Broadcasters Practice Social Distancing
Michael Hedges March 16, 2020 Follow on Twitter
A big part of many TV shows has been the live audiences. Broadcasting studios have long been magnets for tour groups. Sometimes this includes watching a show as it is produced. It’s exciting for TV fans. For broadcasters it is part of public outreach. A change is upon us.
 In-studio audiences for television shows were put in abeyance at Swedish public broadcaster SVT’s main Stockholm facility last week. “Activities in our buildings must be protected from possible infection,” said an SVT statement, quoted by Dagens Media (March 11). SVT is also screening all visitors.
Other Swedish television broadcasters have stopped using in-person audiences. Two shows produced by Discovery Networks Sweden “will not be recorded until later this spring,” said spokesperson Daniel Lagerqvist. “There is reason to believe this can go on for a while and if the situation is then as it is now, we will not record with an audience.” TV4, subsidiary of Bonnier Broadcasting Group, and Nordic Entertainment (NENT) are also not currently using studio audiences.
Popular dance-talent show Dancing Stars, a take-off on Dancing With Stars, did not appear this past week on Austrian public TV ORF, reported Austrian daily Kleine Zeitung (March 10). Typically, it has a large in-person audience. “A TV event like this can only be carried out with more than 100 people,” said an OFR statement. “This step protects everyone involved in the production, especially the participants.” Similar dance-talent shows in Germany (RTL) and Switzerland (SFR) have proceeded as usual, except RTL’s Looking For A Superstar was broadcast without a studio audience.
On Saturday (March 14) Polish broadcaster TV Polsat broadcast the second episode of new talent show The Four. At the end of the show it was announced that the show would be taking a pause, reported wirtunemedia.pl (March 15). “For the sake of the health of the creators and participants of the show The Four. The battle for fame we decided to suspend the recordings of the program,” said the slide. “Soon we will give information about when we will return.” TV Polsat also paused three other studio-audience shows, including Dancing With Stars. New episodes are not expected before autumn.
Two of the longest-running US game shows, Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, will proceed without cheering studio audiences. Highlighting health concerns, long-time Jeopardy host Alex Trebek is being treated for stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Other US TV games shows are giving up studio audiences; Family Feud and America’s Got Talent, among others. So, too, are several morning and late night US TV talk shows. The Price Is Right has suspended production altogether, saying the studio audience is essential.
TV sports have been ravaged by a wide range of cancellations and suspensions. Sporting events attracting large numbers of ticket-holding fans always enhance the live broadcast. With more players testing positive for the coronavirus, teams and leagues gave up the idea of holding events just on TV with no fans. Sports broadcasters are bringing out the greatest hits shows.
Speaking of sports, the Sunday night live debate between Democratic Party candidates on CNN will have no studio audience.
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