CBS announced Survivor was pulled from its fall lineup today as a result of shooting delays in Fiji. The delays are, of course, the result of the COVID-19 pandemic. And while it may be the first, it won't be the last of such announcements.
The network fall television season traditionally begins the Monday following the Emmy Awards (for this year, that would be Monday, September 21.) Los Angeles recently implemented new lockdown orders for Southern California after a new record for C19 cases, which will impact the small amount of filming that had restarted in recent weeks. And that's going to be a problem for networks. Fall dramas and comedies need to be in production by the end of July/beginning of August to make that September premiere deadline. So for each week there is a delay, that translates as a delay for fall season premieres as well.
The CW may have gambled right with this one. Other than wrapping up the last few episodes of Supernatural, everything else on their fall schedule is either imported from other countries or shows that previously aired on streaming services. The network announced at its upfronts that its official premiere season wouldn't be until January. While the other major networks were hoping to hold on to some semblance of a fall schedule, reality may be setting in that 'normal' won't be returning any time soon. Expect more networks to pull content from whatever streaming platforms they can access, or start cutting deals with networks outside the US to fill all of those primetime hours. For NBC and FOX, it could end up as a double-whammy if NFL football is also curtailed or cancelled altogether. Not only does that leave a massive schedule hole in need of plugging, but NFL rating numbers are a huge part of any network's bid for advertising dollars.
And don't think streaming services are immune. Jon Favreau announced filming on the second season of The Mandalorian wrapped in March, just before lockdowns went into effect. Likewise, Star Trek: Discovery wrapped its next season in the nick of time. Season two of Star Trek: Picard and The Witcher, however, have both been delayed, pushing back their premieres as well.
Written by LadyShelley on Jul 15, 2020
You'd think it would affect something, either network revenue or streaming revenue. But the CW has already committed to airing the less than good recent version of Swamp Thing that premiered on the DC streaming channel, along with some things imported from Canada and the UK. FOX is planning to air a couple of 13 episode shows that it didn't get around to airing this last season as well as Cosmos Possible Worlds that has already aired on Nat Geo.
ABC never actually announced a fall lineup, so I wouldn't be surprised if most of their content is from Disney+ or another previously aired source. CBS, and to a lesser extent NBC, seems to think they will have a normal fall season. They may be in for a bit of a shock come September.
«Major networks might source content from streaming &/| foreign sources»? That could hurt their profits, but I’ll be an optimist and hope this might be the best quality season of US broadcast TV in decades. :D
I guess it's a good thing I've got a bunch of stuff still to catch up on, on my DVR and shows I like on DVD to rewatch. I hope the pandemic slows down soon so all the shows can work on their production and get all the crews (the actors and everyone who works hard behind the cameras) back to work.
I'm doing good work on my very long backlog of series, so not a problem at all, i think i could last 2-3 years without any new stuff before i am done with my backlog
Up to now, netflix and prime have delivered me a lot of shows to watch :)
No kidding! Though Mt. To-Be-Watched has thinned considerably over the last few months.
This is the time to get to the shows I never had the time to watch until now :)