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Wednesday, March 26, 2025
How COVID Changed TV Production Forever
variety.com: Five years ago this week, the television industry rose to the challenge of keeping news, daytime and late-night talk shows and other topical series on the air during the harsh early months of the COVID pandemic.
The entertainment industry took a massive hit during COVID, and all of the restrictions with social distancing and social gatherings. Before reading this, I never really thought about how much goes into producing a TV show, from the preparation to all of the technology and where that goes. Hearing quotes from the interviews really brought me back to that time, and made me more aware of how many industries were affected by this. I like that there was recognition of all of the innovations that came out of these restrictions, obviously reminiscent of theatre, where we’re trained to adapt to that. It’s odd how the experiences of TV workers have only been exposed now. It’s true, the show must go on, especially when times are really hard. They mention that at a certain point, the deaths due to COVID hit 400,000. Making people laugh and bringing them joy is so crucial during times like this.
Chris Dinan, the executive producer of ABC News’ “World News Tonight” has a great quote in the article that I really resonated with: “It was interesting how quickly people adapted. They just found ways to work around issues and work around problems and make something happen.”. I think that, if nothing else, television’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic is proof of how flexible and adaptable it is as a medium. Although virtually every industry came to a halt in March 2020, reporters like Linsey Davis, Vin Di Bona, and Tony Dokoupil were able to pivot quickly with home-studio setups that allowed them to continue delivering news at a time when it was most important. Now that the pandemic has subsided and anchors are back in their newsrooms, there are still trends from COVID-times that have stuck around: zoom interviews, for example, have become far more frequent since the pandemic and allow for a much wider range of interviewees than an IRL-model allows.
One of my favorite things to do when I feel down is to watch videos of news anchors being interrupted by their pets while broadcasting from home. Seeing little snippets of someone’s life outside of their polished performance is a beautiful reminder that we are all humans. It came at a good time because people needed a reminder that everyone is going through this together, and the humanity provided a way for people to feel included in the community at a time when they couldn’t physically be present with others. I find it particularly inspiring how many actors and creatives kept working during lockdown, not because of the need for money but because of their dedication to producing entertainment and bringing joy in times of hardship and adversity. For some, it was an easy transition; livestreamers and youtubers were already equipped to produce content from home, but film and live performances definitely took a big hit from the lack of ability to work remotely. The industry (for the most part) did a good job of keeping as many people employed as they could with restrictions.
3 comments:
The entertainment industry took a massive hit during COVID, and all of the restrictions with social distancing and social gatherings. Before reading this, I never really thought about how much goes into producing a TV show, from the preparation to all of the technology and where that goes. Hearing quotes from the interviews really brought me back to that time, and made me more aware of how many industries were affected by this. I like that there was recognition of all of the innovations that came out of these restrictions, obviously reminiscent of theatre, where we’re trained to adapt to that. It’s odd how the experiences of TV workers have only been exposed now. It’s true, the show must go on, especially when times are really hard. They mention that at a certain point, the deaths due to COVID hit 400,000. Making people laugh and bringing them joy is so crucial during times like this.
Chris Dinan, the executive producer of ABC News’ “World News Tonight” has a great quote in the article that I really resonated with: “It was interesting how quickly people adapted. They just found ways to work around issues and work around problems and make something happen.”. I think that, if nothing else, television’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic is proof of how flexible and adaptable it is as a medium. Although virtually every industry came to a halt in March 2020, reporters like Linsey Davis, Vin Di Bona, and Tony Dokoupil were able to pivot quickly with home-studio setups that allowed them to continue delivering news at a time when it was most important. Now that the pandemic has subsided and anchors are back in their newsrooms, there are still trends from COVID-times that have stuck around: zoom interviews, for example, have become far more frequent since the pandemic and allow for a much wider range of interviewees than an IRL-model allows.
One of my favorite things to do when I feel down is to watch videos of news anchors being interrupted by their pets while broadcasting from home. Seeing little snippets of someone’s life outside of their polished performance is a beautiful reminder that we are all humans. It came at a good time because people needed a reminder that everyone is going through this together, and the humanity provided a way for people to feel included in the community at a time when they couldn’t physically be present with others. I find it particularly inspiring how many actors and creatives kept working during lockdown, not because of the need for money but because of their dedication to producing entertainment and bringing joy in times of hardship and adversity. For some, it was an easy transition; livestreamers and youtubers were already equipped to produce content from home, but film and live performances definitely took a big hit from the lack of ability to work remotely. The industry (for the most part) did a good job of keeping as many people employed as they could with restrictions.
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