Coronavirus & TV Production: Shows, Sports Broadcasts Halted

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has brought about great disruption to people's daily lives, and the far-reaching impact has hit the broadcast industry as well. To help prevent the spread of the disease, TV productions for news, sports and general entertainment shows have made changes from removing audiences to halting production altogether.

Here is a rundown of what productions are doing (UPDATED 3/13 @ 3:41 p.m.)

All major sports leagues (NBA, NHL, MLS, MLB and others) have suspended play for the time being; the NCAA has cancelled all of its winter and spring sports, which includes the popular NCAA March Madness tournament that was expected to start on March 17. MoffettNathanson Research has estimated that in the event that the NBA does not resume play this season it could lead to a lost in revenue of $306 million for Disney (which owns ESPN) and $168 million for AT&T's (which owns TNT), according to TVT's sister publication B&C. The Hollywood Reporter has also reported that the Masters golf tournament, which airs on CBS, has been postponed.

B&C also reports that the Democratic presidential candidate debate between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders that CNN is producing on Sunday, March 15, will be conducted with no audience, but will otherwise go on as planned. Univision's Jorge Ramos was scheduled to serve as a moderator for the debate, but may have been exposed to the virus and is being replaced with Ilia Calder n.

According to BuzzFeed, a number of TV dramas and comedies have halted production because of coronavirus. This includes Grey's Anatomy, Carnival Row, The Amazing Race, Survivor, The Price is Right, The Morning Show, Riverdale, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night With Seth Meyers. Many talk shows, meanwhile, have announced that they will continue to film but without a live audience. These include: Ellen, America's Got Talent, Jeopardy, Full Frontal With Samantha Bee The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, The Late Late Show With James Corden, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The View, One Day at a Time and more.

Similarly, the Los Angeles Times reports that Universal Television and a number of ViacomCBS brands have announced that production will pause for two weeks, after which the situation will be reassessed.

Streaming giant Netflix is not immune to COVID-19s impact, as The Hollywood Reporter reported that all scripted TV and film pyhsical production and prep has been shut down for two weeks in the U.S. and Canada.

Yahoo has reported that the CWs The Flash and the show Lucifer have also suspended production.

Disney Television Studios have postponed production on all of its broadcast pilots by at least three weeks, according to TheWrap. Production has also been shelved on Dinsey-owned National Geographics Genius: Aretha about Aretha Franklin.

In New York, CBS News HQ had two employees test positive for COVID-19, and as a result evacuated its offices and instructed its employees to work from home until a unspecified future date.

Many networks have also announced that they are canceling their upfront presentations. NBCUniversal announced, per B&C, that it will instead stream its presentation about NBC's 2020-2021 season. Disney has done the same.

However, there always seem to be some who try to take advantage of a bad situation. NPR has reported that televangelist Jim Bakker is being sued by the state of Missouri over the advertising and selling of Silver Solution, which was promoted on the show as a potential treatment for COVID-19.

TVT will update this article as more information becomes available.

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