Royall explained that the delay was due to a technical systems crash that happened seconds before the News at Ten was due to air, adding that “hats off” were due to Edwards.
“Director had to switch to back-up system ASAP”, he said.
Viewers on BBC One were played saxophone music for part of the delay, while on iPlayer an announcer apologised for the glitch.
The BBC News Channel continued to broadcast Edwards live in the TV studio.
At 22:04 BST, Edwards wished viewers a good evening and said: “A few technical problems tonight for which we apologise”.