coronavirus

Some Scripps employees were sent an email Wednesday, informing them that they were getting a one time bonus of $1,000 and an extra day off. The bonus and the PTO day were given to employees whose jobs required them to be in the office or in the field at least 60% of the time during the pandemic.

More than a year following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, in-person meetings are on the rebound. In late August, 30,000 masked attendees gathered in Las Vegas for ASD Market Week, a retail trade show. In Chicago, the Black Women’s Expo recently held the largest event in its history, with 432 vendors and thousands of masked attendees. Still, it could be several years — if ever — before conferences attract the crowds they did before the pandemic.

Although linear TV enjoyed an initial pandemic boost, the effects weren’t long-lasting and didn’t reverse longstanding trends with which the industry must reckon.

Theresa Alesso, Pro Division president, Sony Electronics, said “we’ve considered the unprecedented circumstances and made the difficult decision that we will not be participating in person at next month’s NAB Show or InfoComm.”

RTDNA will be the canary in the coal mine for journalism conferences in September, when it convenes in Denver without the Society of Professional Journalists, its longtime partner. Executive Director Dan Shelley discusses plans for navigating the live event amid the Delta surge and the most pressing dangers and prerogatives facing journalists as unsteady times continue and attacks on reporters persist.

VidCon 2021 has been canceled due to a spike in COVID-19 cases — marking the second straight year the major creator convention has been scrapped because of the pandemic. The event, which typically takes place in June, was set for Oct. 22-24 in Anaheim, Calif. The next VidCon event in the U.S. is now slated to take place at the Anaheim Convention Center June 22-25, 2022.

Los Angeles Country’s COVID database on Thursday showed nine positive tests on Stage 18 of the CBS Studio Center (aka CBS Radford) in Studio City. The outbreak is tied to CBS’s Big Brother, which is filming its 23rd season there, sources said. The nine positive tests for crew members had been registered over several weeks since July 26, with most of those impacted already back at work after being quarantined and subsequently cleared.

The Television Academy said Thursday that attendees at next month’s Primetime Emmy Awards and Creative Arts Emmy Awards will be required to provide a negative COVID test in addition to being fully vaccinated. This year’s ceremonies are being limited to nominees and a guest with the rise of the Delta variant this summer hampering the return to fully live in-person events in Los Angeles and around the country.

The association’s Chris Brown said today that NAB “will require all attendees and participants to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination. We think this is a positive step in reducing the spread of COVID-19 and will provide further details on implementation as well as other safety measures under consideration.”

National Football League sponsors and advertisers are facing the prospect of more uncertainty this season as COVID’s resurgence complicates marketing plans. But the league — which begins its regular season on Sept. 9 — continues to prove its resilience by adding sponsors and commanding top TV ad dollars.

Citing a rise in Covid-19 cases, NBCUniversal told staffers via internal memo Wednesday that the company has decided to delay its return-to-office date until Oct. 18 “at the earliest.” The company had previously planned on welcoming staffers back to the office right after Labor Day.

The Television Academy revealed Tuesday that “following discussions with health and safety experts” for L.A. County, the organization is limiting the number of nominees who will be allowed to attend the Emmy Awards on Sept. 19 as well as the Creative Arts Emmys on Sept. 11 and 12.

Coronavirus misinformation has spiked online in recent weeks after a decline in the spring, misinformation experts say, as people who peddle in falsehoods have seized on the surge of cases from the Delta variant to spread new and recycled unsubstantiated narratives.

WarnerMedia News and Sports chairman Jeff Zucker said in a memo that CNN had been operating on the honor system by not requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination from employees returning to the office. “In the past week, we have been made aware of three employees who were coming to the office unvaccinated. All three have been terminated,” Zucker said.

ViacomCBS employees won’t be returning to their offices until Oct. 18 “at the very earliest,” CEO Bob Bakish said in a memo to staff Wednesday. He also said the company will continue to require employees currently working at U.S. locations “to be fully vaccinated” and wear masks. He said executives are “assessing if we will make this vaccination requirement mandatory for all employees returning to the office” in the plan’s next phase.

An unvaccinated viewer watching a newscast on First Coast News in Jacksonville says she was so “confident with the information it gave” that she scheduled and received a vaccine. Not only that, but she sent First Coast News an email thanking them. The station then turned the email into a testimonial spot.

President Joe Biden name checked The Walt Disney Co., Netflix, Google, Fox Corp. and other private companies for instituting new vaccine requirements for their employees. As he referred to the alarming rise in COVID-19 cases as the “pandemic of the unvaccinated,” the president also sought to single out major corporations that in recent weeks have instituted their own types of mandates.

TV station leaders and syndication producers face ever-changing guidance on how and when to bring people back as caution continues to abound and stringent COVID protocols return. Above, on Fox First-Run’s new syndicated show, You Bet Your Life, starring Jay Leno and his former Tonight Show band leader Kevin Eubanks, the live audience of 40-60 people are all vaccinated and masked. Note: This story is available to TVNewsCheck Premium members only. If you would like to upgrade your free TVNewsCheck membership to Premium now, you can visit your Member Home Page, available when you log in at the very top right corner of the site or in the Stay Connected Box that appears in the right column of virtually every page on the site. If you don’t see Member Home, you will need to click Log In or Subscribe.

A debate is heating up over vaccination protocols for cast and crew members and how to enforce them.

As cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant continue to rise across the country, including in Los Angeles County, the Television Academy has added a vaccination requirement to all attendees of this year’s Emmy ceremonies. The organization joins most Hollywood events, including premieres, now requiring proof of vaccination before entry.

The Walt Disney Co. clapped back at Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson, slamming the actress’ breach of contract lawsuit for showing “callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.” In a court filing on Thursday, Johansson said Disney’s decision to send the Marvel movie to Disney Plus at the same time it was released in theaters cost her millions of dollars in backend compensation.

The show will start production with a full-capacity audience at CBS Broadcast Center in New York on Aug. 26. The plan is to bring back audiences on a COVID-compliant set, but as we know with all productions right now this is subject to change depending on the situation regarding the pandemic next month. Barrymore joins the majority of the latenight hosts, including Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon, who have recently brought back audiences.

The Apple TV+ show’s producers are demanding Chubb National Insurance pay for second season delays due to the pandemic.

Jan Goldstein, SVP of human resources at Gray Television, says the 9-to-5 status quo has been permanently disrupted at TV stations by the pandemic. The new world of TV HR has also been reshaped by a deeper commitment to diversity and inclusion, a greater scrutiny of future work-related travel and the blurred lines between employees’ professional and personal lives after 15 months of remote work. Note: This story is available to TVNewsCheck Premium members only. If you would like to upgrade your free TVNewsCheck membership to Premium now, you can visit your Member Home Page, available when you log in at the very top right corner of the site or in the Stay Connected Box that appears in the right column of virtually every page on the site. If you don’t see Member Home, you will need to click Log In or Subscribe.

Just months after the major pro sports leagues resumed play after the pandemic forced an unprecedented shutdown of live sports for nearly a year, COVID-19 is still having an adverse effect on the live sports event business. While the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines has paved the way for a return of most pro sports events in 2021 — and has allowed fans to attend events at full capacity in many venues — observers said the industry has not yet declared victory against the virus.

Skepticism about the COVID-19 vaccination is a common theme in media appealing to conservatives, despite assurances from doctors and scientists that the vaccine is safe and effective. Some medical experts worry that conflicting takes and outright distrust of the vaccine shown by influential media personalities contribute to a failure to meet inoculation goals aimed at arresting the pandemic.