Update: As of 12:33 a.m. on Monday, the studio to transmitter link failure has been resolved, putting the channels back on-air.

A major equipment problem continues to prevent thousands of people in the Big Country from watching KTXS, ThisTV, and Abilene's CW.

The problem first arose around 6:20 p.m. on Sunday, when an apparent power surge flickered the lights and all of the equipment and computers in KTXS studios off of North Clack, not far from the Taylor-Jones county line.

KTXS staff immediately learned the problem was much bigger than just a power surge.

The surge had knocked out what is known as an "STL" , or studio to transmitter link.

"The studio to transmitter link is how we get video and audio (basically all of our broadcast content, and network programming) from our studio to our transmitter south of Merkel," said KTXS Chief Engineer Adam McKinney.

Viewers watching over-the-air, on DISH network, or DirecTV, were unable to see KTXS, ThisTV, and Abilene's CW. Cable customers were not affected.

The KTXS studio is approximately 23 miles away from the transmitter in Merkel.

Since the problem first arose, KTXS engineers have been working with software manufacturers, as well as troubleshooting both at the north Abilene studios and the transmitter site in Merkel. 

The station hopes to have the problem corrected as soon as possible.

"This is very rare. It's impossible to predict when any piece of equipment such as this will fail (under these circumstances) ,we are trying to work around the problem and get it fixed as soon as possible," McKinney said.