coronavirus

Fox News and Fox Business Network host Neil Cavuto returned to the air on Monday and revealed he had been in an intensive care unit while battling pneumonia and the coronavirus. The host said his “very compromised immune system” caused him to contract the coronavirus more than once.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom lashed out at what he called “Perhaps one of the great disinformation networks in America … One America News” for spreading “a lot of misinformation” about COVID. He did not stop there. He’s establishing the Office of Community Partnerships and Strategic Communications, which he called “a brand new unit in the state government. It’s a strategic partnership unit and a communications unit,” that Newsom said will also “support and amplify local and community-based partnerships” and work with trusted community voices to get the message out.

TVNewsCheck‘s Michael Depp talks with Jeff Rosica, CEO of Avid, about the company’s decision to sit out major trade shows including NAB and IBC this year and how such shows may look dramatically different on the other side of the pandemic.

It says “it is not yet feasible to reliably predict the pandemic’s path, nor to ensure that large groups of its employees can be expected to convene at events that typically draw thousands of attendees.”

With China’s strict policy about those who test positive for COVID-19, most of NBC’s announcers for the Beijing Games are stationed stateside. NBC isn’t alone in keeping its announcers home. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. has almost all its analysts and announcers working out of studios in Toronto and Montreal. The BBC is also keeping announcers at studios outside London.

Almost two years into the global COVID-19 pandemic, TV executives are finding there are many things that have changed permanently as a result of viewers’ altered habits and the need to do business differently. And some of those things are actually good for the overall business of television.

Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts revealed late Thursday that she tested positive for COVID-19, which is why she has been absent from the morning airwaves. “Appreciate the concern about my absence this week on @GMA. Unfortunately I tested positive for Covid. Grateful my symptoms have been mild and that I’m doing well. Looking forward to returning as soon as I can,” she tweeted.

During the holiday break, which traditionally shuts down Hollywood for the final two weeks of the year, top broadcast network executives used to spend a significant portion of their time reading pilot scripts before kicking off pilot pickups at the start of January with early drama standouts. Broadcast business traditions, already threatened by the fast evolving marketplace with the rise of streamers, have been completely upended by the pandemic. Three weeks into the new year, we’ve only had three January pilot pickups: NBC dramas Quantum Leap and Found and ABC comedy Josep.

Due to concerns about COVID-19 and other COVID-related restrictions, ESPN will not be sending any news personnel to the Winter Olympics in China and will instead focus on covering the games remotely with a plan that will roll out prior to the beginning of competition next month. “The safety of our employees is of utmost importance to us,” said Norby Williamson, ESPN EVP, event and studio production and executive editor. “With the pandemic continuing to be a global threat, and with the COVID-related on-site restrictions in place for the Olympics that would make coverage very challenging, we felt that keeping our people home was the best decision for us.”

Tegna’s Seattle NBC affiliate KING seems to be struggling with keeping its staff safe during the pandemic. A staffer has revealed that COVID-19 cases are occurring at “an alarming rate,” raising questions about the station’s commitment to COVID prevention and the care of its employees.

The awards will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, according to a joint statement released Tuesday by the Recording Academy and CBS. The show postponed its original date on Jan. 31 at the newly renamed Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles after organizers’ determined there were “too many risks” because of the virus’s latest surge.

ABC News is under fire for how it edited an interview that CDC Director Rochelle Walensky gave to Good Morning America. In the interview, Walensky discussed a study that showed how most vaccinated people who died of coronavirus were also sick for other reasons. But the way the interview was edited, it wasn’t clear she was talking about vaccinated people — and references spread widely online implying she was talking about all COVID-19 victims.

Filming on Season 9 of the NBC drama Chicago PD was suspended Wednesday after a number of positive COVID tests, including cases in Zone A, which includes the cast and those who directly interact with them.

The network cites COVID-related impacts on production in its decision to move the Susan Sarandon-led series off a Jan. 30 premiere date.

The number of case counts soared over the holidays, an expected development given the emergence of a variant more transmissible than its predecessors. Yet these counts only reflect what is reported by health authorities. They do not include most people who test themselves at home, or are infected without even knowing about it. Holidays and weekends also lead to lags in reported cases. Throughout the media, there has been more caution in use of official case counts.

Last week was the week the latenight hosts contracted Covid with Late Night’s Seth Meyers and The Late Late Show’s James Corden both being hit by the virus. Meyers returned to host his NBC show Monday evening, although the former SNL star recorded it remotely after receiving his positive test last week.

Savannah Guthrie has tested positive for COVID-19. The Today show anchor shared her breakthrough case to Hoda Kotb at the top of NBC’s morning show on Monday. Guthrie, whom Today reported is vaccinated and has received a booster shot, shared that she has felt mild symptoms. “Little sniffles, not much more than that,” she said.

E.W. Scripps President and CEO Adam Symson says the company will be very flexible about work from home hybridity after the pandemic abates, seeing multiple advantages to the new way of working on both the station and corporate levels. Read part one here.

The group says it has new “programs, events, and activities in development to bring professional and financial opportunities to its members” later this year.

The delay of the Grammy Awards because of the spread of COVID-19 puts the estimated $67 million in ad sales the show has generated for CBS in jeopardy. The 2021 Grammy generated $67.6 million in ad revenue for CBS, according to ad data and analysis company Standard Media Index. That was up from $67 million in 2020 and $60.2 million in 2019, despite falling viewership.

The Late Late Show with James Corden is the latest show to be hit by rising COVID numbers. Corden revealed that he contracted COVID-19 and as a result the CBS latenight show will be off the show air until Jan. 18. However, the Brit said he was feeling “completely fine” as a result of being fully vaccinated and boosted.

Filming on Paramount+ drama Star Trek: Picard has been shut down since Monday following a sizable COVID-19 outbreak. Sources say more than 50 members of the large production tested positive on Monday, which was the first day of work after the Christmas break. The Patrick Stewart-led series has one of television’s biggest crews, numbering more than 450 staffers. The infections impacted multiple zones, including cast in zone A.

Hoda Kotb has tested positive for COVID-19 amid a surge of cases in New York City over the last month. The Today anchor’s breakthrough case was first reported on the NBC morning show Thursday, with co-anchor Craig Melvin confirming the news on air. “She tested positive for COVID but Hoda tells us that she’s doing just fine, and we look forward to having her back very, very soon,” Melvin said during the show’s third hour.

As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, many news and other television productions are returning to remote or partially remote productions. Stations and networks are taking differing approaches and the configurations also often change from production to production.

“We plan on playing Super Bowl LVI as scheduled at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 13,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement. “As part of our standard contingency planning process that we conduct for all regular and postseason games, we have contacted several clubs to inquire about stadium availability in the event we cannot play the Super Bowl as scheduled due to weather-related issues or unforeseen circumstances [such as COVID-19]. Our planning process for the Super Bowl in Los Angeles is ahead of schedule and we look forward to hosting the Super Bowl there to culminate another fantastic NFL season for oir fans and clubs.”

Exactly a year after the winter 2021 COVID surge delayed post-holiday break return to production on most TV shows, the omicron variant’s ultra wide spread is once again interrupting TV production. According to sources, NCIS has paused production after a positive test in Zone A, which includes the cast and those interacting with them. The case is believed to involve a cast member. For now, the intention is still for the show to resume filming with the NCIS: Hawai’i crossover episode next week but plans are all in flux amid the unprecedented infection rates. Meanwhile, NCIS: LA has delayed return to production until February, sources say.