Over the past week, the TV industry moved quickly to first get rid of live audiences at late night tapings and game shows. Now those productions have been shut down altogether. The upfront presentations in New York have been moved to an entirely digital format, and Emmy campaigning looks uncertain. Meanwhile, we offer suggestions on what to watch when you’re stuck at home. 

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Coronavirus and TV industry: uncharted waters, plus streaming recommendations

Following the cancelation of the music festival South by Southwest, other industry events are taking precautions. The TV Academy has banned audience interaction with panel members at Emmy campaigning events, and some cable networks have withdrawn from the upfront presentations to advertisers in New York. 

Coronavirus and TV industry: fewer live audiences, Upfronts, Emmy events

A month ago, Bob Iger announced that the launch of Disney+ had been a smashing success with almost 30 million subscribers. Now with Iger out as CEO, what does the future hold for the streaming service?

Without Bob Iger, will Disney+ hit road bumps?

The Quibi ad blitz has begun. Will the tone of these dark commercials make young viewers curious enough to pay for the kind of short form content they're already getting for free on YouTube?

Gearing up for Quibi

Disney+ has released some subscriber stats, and with nearly 30 million sign-ups, the streamer is off to a strong start. Now the question is, how do they maintain it?

Disney+ lifts the veil on subscriber numbers

Almost 100 million people watched the Superbowl last weekend. If you were one of them, you may have noticed ads for broadcast and cable shows that also include logos of streaming services. As the landscape continues to shift, networks are no longer too prideful to promote streaming partners, or in some cases, rivals. 

Linear networks get bold about promoting streamers

Shows could be hailed as a "breakthrough" or "most popular" based on selective numbers released by a streamer, just don't confuse a puffed-up press release with actual total audience size. 

Streamers release a lot of numbers, but what do they actually mean?

If you watched the Golden Globes this year, you may have noticed a lot of speeches got bleeped. In an age where people can see all kinds of unfiltered content online, is it time to relax FCC rules, especially for live events?

Is it time to update FCC rules for broadcast TV?

The "Jeopardy!" GOAT tournament is doing huge ratings for ABC. In a TV world where streaming dominates, the hope for the broadcast networks is that they can still draw big numbers with specialized events.  

"Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time" offers a glimpse of the future of broadcast TV

What does the television industry hold for 2020? Mike and Joe share their predictions. 

TV predictions for the year ahead

We've talked about streaming wars a lot in the past couple of months, but really, streaming is the story of the decade in TV. 

Reflecting on the decade in television

It used to be that actors would only get $1 million per TV episode in the later seasons of super successful, long-running shows like "Friends" or "The Big Bang Theory." Now, more and more A-listers are demanding that kind of money up front. 

In TV, more and more stars enter the "Million Dollar Club"

Netflix got us all hooked on binging, but some of the newer entries in the streaming wars are going a different direction. 

Taking a break from the binge

They were once one company, then broken up, but now Shari Redstone is re-combining CBS and Viacom. But will the re-merged companies be enough scale to survive, or will it ultimately be bought by an even bigger company?

Viacom and CBS are officially getting back together

It's the annual Screengrab Thanksgiving episode, the 2019 edition! This year Mike and Joe are thankful for some new dramas and retro comedies. 

TV we're thankful for

Screengrab is a new KCRW commentary segment hosted by veteran TV journalists Michael Schneider and Joe Adalian. Each week, they'll have a lively discussion about the evolving world of television and that screens -- be they tablets, phones or TV sets...

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