The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):

film at 11


    [MIT: in parody of TV newscasters]

    1. Used in conversation to announce ordinary events, with a sarcastic
    implication that these events are earth-shattering. ?ITS crashes; film at
    11.? ?Bug found in scheduler; film at 11.?

    2. Also widely used outside MIT to indicate that additional information
    will be available at some future time, without the implication of anything
    particularly ordinary about the referenced event. For example, ?The mail
    file server died this morning; we found garbage all over the root
    directory. Film at 11.? would indicate that a major failure had occurred
    but that the people working on it have no additional information about it
    as yet; use of the phrase in this way suggests gently that the problem is
    liable to be fixed more quickly if the people doing the fixing can spend
    time doing the fixing rather than responding to questions, the answers to
    which will appear on the normal ?11:00 news?, if people will just be
    patient.

    The variant ?MPEGs at 11? has recently been cited (MPEG is a digital-video
    format.)


The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

film at 11

    (MIT, in parody of US TV newscasters) 1. Used in
   conversation to announce ordinary events, with a sarcastic
   implication that these events are earth-shattering.  "ITS
   crashes; film at 11."  "Bug found in scheduler; film at 11."

   2. Also widely used outside MIT to indicate that additional
   information will be available at some future time, *without*
   the implication of anything particularly ordinary about the
   referenced event.  For example, "The mail file server died
   this morning; we found garbage all over the root directory.
   Film at 11." would indicate that a major failure had occurred
   but that the people working on it have no additional
   information about it as yet; use of the phrase in this way
   suggests gently that the problem is liable to be fixed more
   quickly if the people doing the fixing can spend time doing
   the fixing rather than responding to questions, the answers to
   which will appear on the normal "11:00 news", if people will
   just be patient.

   [Jargon File]

   (1998-03-24)