‘The View’ and ‘Live with Kelly and Ryan’ suspend live audiences over coronavirus
Walt Disney Television (WDT) announced Wednesday that some of its most popular programs, including “Live With Kelly and Ryan,” “The View” and “The Tamron Hall Show” will stop having live studio audiences effective immediately out of caution over the 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 told TVLine TVLine.
“Live with Kelly and Ryan” co-hosts Ryan Seacrest and Kelly Ripa informed those watching at home of the decision before the camera zoomed out to show a limited audience only consisting of program staff.
“As you can see, things are a little different here today, given the developing situation in New York with the coronavirus,” Seacrest said. “The decision was made to suspend audiences from our show.”
“While we don’t have our regular studio audience, except for some of our producers … that shouldn’t stop everyone from watching at home. Because, let’s face it: You can’t go anywhere else!” added Ripa.
On “The View,” co-host Whoopi Goldberg explained at the top of the program, “For the first time ever, as you can see, if you looked around, we made the decision to not have a studio audience. This is unprecedented.”
The coronavirus situation is still developing and for the first time ever at @TheView, we made the decision not to have a studio audience. We look forward to our fans returning to join us in the studio in the future! pic.twitter.com/BNXK098W0s
— The View (@TheView) March 11, 2020
The decision comes one day after syndicated host Wendy Williams decided to also suspend studio audiences for the time being.
“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 studio audience until further notice,” the show said in a Tuesday 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.”
Popular game shows “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” are also moving forward without studio audiences until further notice.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.