coronavirus

Localish, the millennial-targeted project from ABC’s stations that jumped from digital beginnings to linear broadcast, has expanded its horizons in the wake of COVID-19. It’s using its signature approach to positive, community-oriented stories to circle back on past subjects in a virus-changed world and explore wider corners beyond the group’s markets. Above, Michael Koenigs, the executive producer of Localish.

The coronavirus hit and everyone has had to stay at home. While snags have developed, for the most part people have found workarounds. Reporters are filing stories, ads are being sol d and trafficked (admittedly fewer ads), and the quarter close happened on time. Here are some relevant ideas and good tips toward making the most efficient use of this new normal.

Staffers at PBS affiliate WLVT and NPR affiliate, WLVR-FM in Lehigh Valley, Pa., feel the weight of the pandemic’s historic power in their everyday reporting. It’s keeping them motivated through an intensely difficult and uncertain time.

Local TV, newspaper and radio companies have joined an NAB-led initiative to push for an increase in the current ad budget part of the next fiscal stimulus package under consideration by Congress. They hope to see federal advertising expanded to between $5 billion and $10 billion for the rest of the year.

With most governments officially shutting down in mid-March due to the novel coronavirus, Nielsen analyzed TV data across the top 25 markets following the statewide orders, and compared with total TV usage from an equivalent period last year. By far, increases in viewing among kids 6-11 and teens 12-17 blew past the rest, particularly during daytime hours. Year-over-year percent increases for these demographics dwarfed those of all other age groups, hitting over 300% gains at noon.

Coronavirus-necessitated remote workflows have spun up quickly and reliably to allow TV stations to keep broadcasting during the pandemic. There’s reason to believe they’ll stick around after the crisis subsides. Above: Avid Edit On Demand provides a full virtual production environment in the cloud, including Media Composer software and Avid NEXIS storage. (Source: Avid)

After more than 30 years as a television weatherman, Jeff Lyons was accustomed to people honking a horn or pulling a goofy face from time to time as they passed by his outdoor live shots. He thought unexpected guests were a thing of the past when he moved his nightly forecast for WFIE Evansville, Ind., into his dining room last month amid the coronavirus pandemic. Then, three weeks into his new routine, Lyons’s 11-year-old cat Betty showed up.

Ad revenue in the first quarter dipped 2.2% for cable channels and was nearly unchanged for the broadcast channels, NBC and Telemundo. Comcast reported that it lost 409,000 cable TV customers, the biggest source of the company’s profits, as cord-cutting accelerated. That’s already more than half the 671,000 customers it lost in all of 2019. But it added 477,000 internet customers, which it said was its best quarterly number in more than a decade.

With the Class of 2020 unable to throw their caps in the air this year due to the coronavirus, LeBron James is putting on a special graduation celebration. The NBA superstar will host the virtual ceremony for the more than 3 million high school seniors. The one-hour special, Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020, will air simultaneously across all broadcast platforms — ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC — and on a host of leading entertainment, social media and streaming platforms

Harvey Levin, the impresario of an online and television infotainment empire is navigating a stay-at-home world without bold-faced names on red carpets, coming out of airports (a regular source of TMZ ambushes), or getting into fights at nightclubs.

The Spanish-language broadcaster will update buyers on the state of its business and unveil its programming strategy for the remainder of 2020.

The Rebound is a companywide service-oriented content initiative that provides audiences with the information, tools and resources they need as the country moves forward during the pandemic.

The 2020 Daytime Emmys, Sports Emmys, News & Documentary Emmys and Technology & Engineering Emmys will be replaced by virtual ceremonies, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced on Wednesday. The Technology & Engineering ceremony had originally been scheduled for April 19 in Las Vegas, and had been postponed until October due to restrictions to combat the coronavirus; the Sports Emmys had been scheduled for April 28 in New York but postponed to fall; the Daytime Emmys had been scheduled for June 12-14 in Pasadena but postponed to fall; and the News & Documentary Emmys had been scheduled for September in New York.

WSVN, the Fox affiliate in Miami owned by Ed Ansin’s Sunbeam Television, has been supporting Feeding South Florida, a local food bank, since the pandemic hit full force in mid-March.

New Jersey Broadcasters Association President-CEO Paul Rotella tells the commission that any increase in annual fees for TV and radio stations is not warranted and that this is not the appropriate time to put any further financial burdens on broadcasters.

Alphabet Inc.’s Google on Wednesday said any user will soon be able to host free video conferences on Meet, turning its previously business-only tool into a bigger rival to Zoom and others battling for users during the coronavirus outbreak.

Studio executives, independent producers, unions, government agencies and insurance specialists have begun to map out a return to what had been, until recently, a new golden age of production. Over the last few weeks, the major studios have held meetings internally and with production service professionals to assess what a return to film and TV sets might look like.

Here’s one example of how the coronavirus is affecting It’s Academic, the world’s longest-running TV quiz show: The other day, a contestant competed on his phone in his car, which was parked outside a library because the WiFi was better there than at his house. Above, Hillary Howard, host of It’s Academic, tapes segments of the high school quiz show in her Arlington, Va., home. (Photo: Dave Statter)

The National Association of Broadcasters has pulled the plug on its physical Celebration of Service to America awards gala in Washington June 9. Instead, there will be a virtual event sometime in the summer, but one that will add the “unparalleled efforts of broadcasters during the COVID-19 pandemic” to those being celebrated.

Global sales fell 23% to 2 million vehicles in the first three months of the year, from 2.6 million in the year-earlier quarter, the company said Wednesday. Operating earnings excluding financial items such as interest and taxes shrank by 81% to 0.9 billion euros from 4.8 billion euros ($5.2 billion) a year earlier.

The syndie star and her husband have pared down her talk/cooking show to a minimalist, makeup-free affair from their home kitchen in the Adirondacks. Shooting on iPhones, cooking largely from pantry staples and taking personal questions from viewers in every episode, Ray’s producer says she’s “the right woman for the right moment.” (Photo: Rachael Ray)

Tweets about television are up in nearly every category from March 1 through April 15 compared with the same time last year, largely driven by the coronavirus pandemic, Nielsen found in a study, but one category stands out as a glaring exception: sports.

The automaker said Tuesday that its revenue from January through March fell nearly 16% to $31.3 billion as most of its factories were shut down for the final week of the quarter.

Network president Jeff Zucker is said to be on a “wartime” footing as the cable channel has scrapped most political panels in favor of covering “the story of our generation.”

The data being sourced locally by Nexstar, Sinclair and Quincy Media journalists supports more accurate and timely community-focused reporting.

Don’t underestimate the appeal to viewers of getting to know their favorite TV personalities in a more intimate way.

Sean Hannity has threatened to sue The New York Times and some of its columnists unless the paper retracts and apologizes for pieces that his lawyers claim mischaracterized Hannity’s coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement, a New York Times spokesperson rejected the demand: “We’ve reported fairly and accurately on Mr. Hannity and there is no basis for a retraction or an apology.”