Programming

The 2020 IHeartRadio Music Awards have been postponed as people continue to hunker down amid the coronavirus outbreak. The annual trophy show, which was set to air live on Fox, had been set for March 29 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The venue is closed for all events until at least the end of the month. IHeartMedia and Fox said they “plan to reschedule at the appropriate time.”

Network TV audiences were up week to week again on Sunday, consistent with the past few nights as people stay home during the coronavirus pandemic. CBS’s 60 Minutes and ABC’s American Idol were the top shows on Sunday, both improving on last week’s total audiences. Fox’s animated shows were also up, as were two of CBS’ three dramas.

Marvel Studios is pressing pause on its Disney Plus shows currently in production, which includes The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki and WandaVision. For shows that are in pre-production, work will continue remotely.

Nielsen says that staying put can lead to to almost a 60% increase in the amount of content watched. “Considering that consumers around the globe are already leaning into the growing ray of content options and channels, a 60% increase is significant,” a new report says.

Networks scrambled to figure out how to fill hours of airtime over the weekend after the sports world was put on hold because of the spread of the coronavirus.

Reruns of Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pushed back a half-hour in the coming week as ABC seeks to give a bigger platform to Nightline episodes focused on the coronavirus pandemic. ABC said Sunday that Kimmel repeats will shift to the 12:05 a.m. slot starting Tuesday through Friday as Nightline goes all-in on coverage of the latest in the coronavirus pandemic.

The Academy of Country Music said Sunday that it was postponing its annual awards show, which was to be held April 5 at the MGM Garden Arena in Las Vegas and televised on CBS, because of the coronavirus pandemic.

NFF players have ratified a new collective bargaining agreement for the next decade, expanding the playoffs from 12 to 14 teams and increasing the regular season from 16 to 17 games. The preseason will be reduced, likely to three games.

The first one-on-one debate between former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders will carry on without a live audience tonight at 8 p.m. ET on CNN, CNN en Español, CNN International and Univision. It will also be streamed without authentication on CNN.com and its apps, as well as Univision’s digital properties and Democrats.org. CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash and Univision’s Illa Calderon will moderate.

The good news is that more people in the choice demos appear to be watching television. The bad news is the reason why, the coronavirus. For now, television is the great national comforter, and that was reflected in the large audience for its offerings on Friday during primetime. ABC’s Shark Tank was the overall winner of the early results of Friday’s demo wars, clocking with an 0.8. But close behind were four programs with an 0.7.

Going without an audience “might be a good thing,” said Stephen Colbert, who was out-of-breath after a brief run through the empty seats. “In my mind, all of my jokes are perfect. The only person that ever disagrees with me right now is the audience.”

The move aims to give cooped-up families a welcome distraction and may presage how other media companies funnel their movies to streaming services in the coming weeks. It may also be a pivotal moment in the evolution of streaming services in relation to theatrical releases.

Crowd energy propels the immediacy of a daily talk show, and with most of those shows and their late-night counterparts stripped of a live audience in the wake of the coronavirus, it has had an unsettling effect. James Poniewozik writes the experience has been “a brief reminder of the function that audiences serve and of the kinds of virtual connection we’re going to crave through our uncertain hunkerings-down.”

Out of 55 broadcast pilots, only one, CBS/WBSTV’s B Positive from Chuck Lorre (pictured), has been completed. If the coronavirus pandemic isn’t curbed soon, broadcast networks will likely reassess their pilot slates. Between series with firm and blinking orders, networks have enough of a cushion to reduce their dependence on pilots, but after eight weeks networks can enforce their force majeure contract clause and drop any project with no penalty.

The network said Trish Regan Primetime and Kennedy are on hiatus “until further notice” in order to reallocate staff elsewhere across Fox News Media for coronavirus crisis coverage. Regan has evoked recent criticism by suggesting liberals were exaggerating the crisis to harm President Trump.

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said Friday that it is postponing the 41st annual Sports Emmy Awards and 71st annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards dinner, both of which had been scheduled for April. The organization said it will look to move both events to a later date this year, and comes as a reaction to the growing global coronavirus pandemic.

Disney Television Studios on Friday morning announced that it will be suspending production on limited series Genius: Aretha for at least three weeks. Additionally, the studio, comprising 20th Century Fox, ABC Studios and Fox 21, is postponing start of production on all of its in-cycle pilots and straight-to-series The Big Sky, including co-productions like The Brides (with WBTV) and Rebel (with Sony TV).

The network will air original episodes of Hawaii Five-O on Friday, March 27, at 9 p.m. with the series finale following at 9 p.m., Friday, April 3. Original episodes of MacGyver will air Friday, March 27, and Friday, April 3, at 8 p.m., and an original episode of Blue Bloods will air Friday, April 3, at 10 p.m.

How is this for tragic irony? For decades, network executives have been trying to break out of the traditional development cycle with little success. It may take a cataclysmic event like the current global coronavirus pandemic to finally do that. The fast-spreading outbreak has shut down or postponed production on about 50 scripted series across broadcast and streaming; ultimately, all shows are expected to grind to a halt, and some will end up delivering shorter seasons.

The Masters, golf’s most prestigious tournament, is the latest sporting event to succumb to the coronavirus pandemic.

The fate of scripted television production is very much in flux as the world grapples with the coronavirus. As of late Thursday evening, NBCUniversal has either suspended production or accelerated the season wrap schedules on 35 shows (scripted, unscripted and syndicated) as a precaution. CBS meanwhile, is taking a similar strategy and has done the same with a fair amount of its series. Other networks and studios are taking things on a case-by-case scenario.

Formula One also canceled its season-opening race in Australia, leaving the first weekend of global motorsports without a major event.

Broadcast TV viewing was up across the board Thursday, possibly because more viewers stayed in as a precaution against the coronavirus outbreak. Nearly every show on the five English-language networks grew its audience vs. a week ago, and as a whole the five networks averaged about 7 percent more primetime viewers (17.56 million vs. 16.45 million) and grew by 11% in adults 18-49 (2.9 rating vs. 2.7). That runs counter to the usual pattern this time of year, when ratings tend to dip following the start of daylight saving time.

The UK’s top soccer competition the Premier League has officially been suspended until April 3 as sports authorities around the world attempt to contain the spread of the coronavirus.