Television’s Biggest Talk Shows Will Tape Without An Audience

Due to growing concerns over coronavirus, several late-night and daytime talk shows will record without their usual live studio audience.

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Several late-night and daytime talk shows announced they’ll record without an audience as concerns grow over the spread of the coronavirus. 

Starting March 16, CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” and Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” will be taped without a typical live studio audience. On Wednesday, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” also announced it would begin taping without an audience. 

Other shows like ABC’s “The View” and “Live with Kelly and Ryan,” as well as TBS’s “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” have already started recording without an audience. Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live! with Andy Cohen” and HBO’s “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” will be audience-free on Sunday, March 15.

Los Angeles-based shows like “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “Late Late Show with James Corden” have not announced their plans on whether they’ll go audience-free yet. NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” is on a regularly-scheduled hiatus until March 28.

The talk show precautions are just one part of recent measures taken to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, which as of Thursday morning, has infected more than 127,000 people in more than 100 countries worldwide, killing at least 4,700. More than 68,000 people have since recovered.

Many major events like Coachella and South by Southwest Festival have been cancelled because of concerns over COVID-19. The NBA has suspended its season entirely, while the NCAA men’s basketball tournament will go on without an audience.