UPDATED with latest: Los Angeles-based The Talk has joined The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The View and other daytime shows that will tape without a live audience due to spread of the coronavirus.
CBS released a statement Friday that, “out of an abundance of caution” The Talk will forego its live studio audiences beginning Monday, March 16.
The Talk follows word Wednesday that The Ellen DeGeneres Show would shoot without a live audience.
“With the rapidly changing nature of the COVID-19 outbreak, and out of concern for our audience attending The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Telepictures will suspend audience attendance during tapings effective Monday, March 16,” a spokesperson for Telepictures said in a statement. “This temporary measure will be reviewed on an ongoing basis and will not impact the production schedule of Ellen.
Ellen has already completed tapings for shows that will air through Friday. Monday would be the first day to tape with a live audience, hence the start date.
Daytime talk shows The View, Live With Kelly And Ryan and Tamron Hall previously announced they would be going without studio audiences for now due to concerns over coronavirus.
“Given the current developing situation in New York City, we have made the decision to suspend live audiences from attending our news broadcasts and talk shows,” a WDT spokesperson said in a statement to Deadline.
Rachael Ray, distributed by CBS TV Distribution, also taped without a live studio audience Wednesday ahead of a preplanned week-long hiatus.
While the list is growing among shows that are opting to without live audiences, some are continuing to monitor the situation. Warner Bros. studio in Burbank, where several shows with live audiences are filmed, released a statement Tuesday. “We are asking all guests to confirm that neither they nor any member of their household have traveled within the past three weeks to or through a location that has been deemed ‘Level 3’ by the CDC (currently China, Italy, Iran and South Korea), the studio said. “These new and temporary precautionary measures have been put in place out of an abundance of caution and out of concern for the health and safety of our guests and staff.”
Syndicated talker The Wendy Williams Show announced Tuesday it would shoot upcoming episodes without a studio audience due to concerns over coronavirus. The show airs on Fox owned-and-operated stations and is syndicated by Debmar-Mercury. There is currently no timetable for reopening the doors.
“Wendy values her co-hosts and their daily participation but in light of the current health climate, The Wendy Williams Show will not have a live studio audience until further notice,” the show said in a statement. “We will continue to produce a daily live talk show and look forward to welcoming the studio audience back when the time is right.”
Dr. Phil, and game shows Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, announced previously that they would be going without studio audiences for the time being.
Hosted by Dr. Phil McGraw, approximately 300 audience members attend the Dr. Phil tapings Monday through Wednesday at stage 29 on the Paramount lot in Hollywood, according to producers.
“The health of our audience members, staff and crew are the priority,” said show EP Carla Pennington, who added that the no-audience-tapings are indefinite at this point.
Dr. Phil is produced by Peteski Productions in association with CBS Television Distribution, which also distributes the show. Pennington and Dr. Phillip C. McGraw are the executive producers.
Distributed by Sony Pictures Television, the long-running Jeopardy! films on the Sony lot in Culver City. The news of the temporary elimination of a studio audience, first reported by TMZ, comes as Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek continues his duties on the program while battling Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Also factoring into the decision is the fact that the game shows’ audiences are generally older and come from out of town.
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