Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television in the United States

[9][10][11] On March 13, CBS Television Studios announced several programs would suspend production, including all series that are part of the NCIS franchise, Bull, Dynasty, Nancy Drew, Charmed, and The Good Fight.

[14] Also on March 13, Warner Bros. suspended production on multiple programs, including All Rise, Batwoman, Bob Hearts Abishola, Euphoria, The Flash, God Friended Me, Riverdale, Supergirl, Supernatural, and Young Sheldon.

This includes regular testing of cast and crew members, closed sets, access zones, shooting limited to ten hours, and all productions requiring an on-set health safety supervisor.

[44] Resumption of The Good Doctor in Vancouver was briefly disrupted by conflicts with local labor unions over the large amount of testing required by Sony Pictures Television.

Those opposed to new restrictions cited Canadian requirements that already mandated 14 days of self-isolation upon entering the country and the relatively lower rate of transmission in the province of British Columbia at the time.

[45][46] On December 28, 2020, FilmLA published excerpts of a letter recently sent by Los Angeles County health officials, which recommended a temporary suspension of "higher risk" production activity due to the "catastrophic surge" of COVID-19 infections in the area.

The surge resulted in a lack of ICU capacity, Governor Newsom referring to LA as the "epicenter" of COVID-19 in the country at that time, and the introduction of a mandatory 10-day self-isolation period for those returning from outside of Los Angeles County.

[50] In May 2022, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) reached agreements to allow the loosening of COVID-19 protocols for transport and masking, for productions taking place in regions in the United States and Canada deemed to have a lower risk (including low hospital admissions).

It was filmed from its actors' homes using videoconferencing, and depicted the in-universe version of the Los Angeles Superior Court conducting its first virtual bench trial due to the pandemic.

It incorporated product placement and promotions for upcoming series across NBCUniversal properties (including, in particular, its new Peacock streaming service) and was remotely screened to advertising partners and the media earlier in the day.

[82][83][84] The season resumed filming in September 2021, with travel restrictions in place, its course modified to go through European countries with high vaccination rates (including Switzerland, France, Greece, and Portugal) and used a Titan Airways charter plane for the rest of the production, with the final destination city being changed to Los Angeles.

[102][103][104] The show ultimately resumed production in June with a streamlined version of its "Judge Cuts" round, in an outdoor stage setting in Simi Valley, California, with enhanced safety protocols and remote performances.

[105] The live quarter-finals (which, due to the revised Judge Cuts format, also had a larger field with four heats rather than three, as in past seasons) were held at Universal Studios Hollywood rather than the Dolby Theatre.

On April 3 and 4, the series aired hour-long Live PD: Special Edition episodes, featuring segments highlighting responses to the pandemic by government officials and first responders (as opposed to its normal format, which follows patrols by police officers).

[130][131] New and returning game shows also adopted similar changes, including remote auditions, reduction of on-site staff, no studio audiences, and set modifications for physical distancing or other factors.

[175][176] Last Week Tonight (HBO) filmed one more episode from an alternate, undisclosed location (due to the closure of the CBS Broadcast Center, its usual studio, for disinfection), with host John Oliver announcing that the show would go on hiatus.

[219] Saturday Night Live returned to in-studio production for season 46 (which premiered October 3), with executive producer Lorne Michaels stating that they also planned to have a "limited" studio audience.

[220] Each audience member was legally considered to be part of the cast and crew of the production, to facilitate compliance with New York state health orders, and each received a $150 payment from Universal Television for their participation.

[236][237] Various specials featuring musicians performing from their homes emerged, including Fox's iHeart Living Room Concert for America (which aired in place of the 2020 iHeartRadio Music Awards, and was simulcast by iHeartMedia radio stations and Fox Corporation cable channels),[238][239] a CBS special featuring Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood,[126] ACM Presents: Our Country (a similar multi-artist program aired in place of the postponed ACM Awards, also on CBS),[240] The Disney Family Singalong (an ABC special on April 16, which featured karaoke performances of songs from Disney franchises with celebrity guests, and PSAs in support of Feeding America),[241] One World: Together at Home (which aired on April 18 as a multi-network simulcast across ABC, CBS, NBC, and various other cable networks and streaming services), Saturday Night Seder (streamed live of April 11),[242] and Saving Our Selves (aired by BET on April 22, with a particular focus on the pandemic's impact on African-American communities).

The fourth season of The Masked Singer was to initially be joined on Wednesday nights by a new season of MasterChef Junior, while Fox also acquired network premieres of L.A.'s Finest (a series originally picked up by Charter after being turned down by NBC) and Cosmos: Possible Worlds (from former sister network National Geographic, which premiered on that channel earlier in the year) for the fall lineup and Thursdays and Fridays would be filled by Thursday Night Football (notwithstanding postponements due to NFL COVID-19 protocols) and WWE SmackDown.

Due to the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, ABC temporarily returned its long-running late-night newsmagazine Nightline to its original 11:35 p.m. timeslot from March 17 through April 10, with a focus on in-depth coverage.

The pandemic's surge in North America roughly coincided with the beginning of off-season business such as the free agency period, and the lead-up to the 2020 NFL draft, which went on as scheduled, but with no public festivities, and which was conducted remotely.

[354] The government of Florida issued an exemption to the state stay-at-home order on April 9, for staff of a "professional sports and media production" produced behind closed doors for a national audience.

It initially featured a virtual audience similar to the ThunderDome, as well as limited in-person attendance (friends and family, as well as some outside spectators; they were divided using glass panes decorated with chain-link fencing).

[390][391] To compensate for the lack of crowd due to games being held behind closed doors, some broadcasters employed simulated crowd sounds sourced from their league's official video games, with the NHL combining them with recordings of team-specific chants contributed by fans,[389][382] and the NBA using video boards erected on its courts at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex to display mosaics of remote fans powered by Microsoft Teams videoconferencing.

[433] While a memo revealing the decision earlier in the year did not specifically mention the pandemic as a contributing factor, NBC Sports was dealing with the impacts of the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics on revenue, among other postponed or cancelled events.

[440] The 74th Tony Awards (originally to be held on June 7 at Radio City Music Hall and aired by CBS) were postponed indefinitely, due largely to mandated closures of Broadway theaters in New York.

The organization was unsure the tour could occur at all due to public gathering restrictions, and there was an anticipated lack of any new scripted or unscripted programming output, even in pilot form, to promote.

[454] After two years of in-person ceremonies, the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards pivoted to a pre-recorded virtual event for different reasons, after its planned host and guests dropped out in solidarity to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike.

[466][467][468][469] The 78th Golden Globe Awards, also postponed, took the Oscars' original date, and featured in-person attendance at both its traditional home of The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, and New York's Rainbow Room (with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler co-hosting from the two locations respectively), and some participants appearing remotely.