Coronavirus Content Won’t Age Well

It took a few weeks - but TV and video produced remotely due to Coronavirus has seemingly hit it’s production-quality plateau. Saturday Night Live has it’s cast shooting on high-quality video cameras with lighting, microphones, and green screens. Al Roker has enough broadcast gear in his home to qualify as an equipment showroom. Even the NFL Draft brought in over 600 high-quality feeds from players and team personnel across the country.

It looks like we’re experiencing the “new normal” of quality we’ll be able to expect for at least the next few months. We will all tolerate that for now - but when we watch replays from this era, we won’t be happy. People will tune out when they see low-resolution choppy video on their favorite shows. I know that I skip past anything in 4x3 when I’m channel surfing - even on shows that I’d typically enjoy watching, like The Simpsons.

So... Here’s my proposal. When shows are allowed to get back to work, and there is enough profit to be made by re-creating content, It should be done.

Take a show like LivePD. While the show is broadcast live on Friday and Saturday nights, it’s timeless and replayable. A&E re-broadcasts episodes throughout the week, and shows are often from months or years earlier. They’ve shaved an hour off their typical 3-hour broadcast, and all three hosts are hosting from home via triple-box. Amazingy, the main host (Dan Abrams) has a low-frame rate for his remote feed, despite the show being able to bring in dozens of crystal-clear camera signals from patrolling cops across the country. The show is otherwise the same as any pre-coronavirus show. There’s around 20 minutes of hosted wraparound, intro, and analysis that help tie together live and pre-recorded segments. The hosted segments are awkward with delayed signals and lack of in-person interaction. 

It should take less than an hour to re-record those segments - and it will take a good editor less than three hours to add the improved segments back into the show. I know there’s costs for talent and production teams and union stuff - but I’d guess that there’s a higher value to evergreen repeatable shows than the alternatives of airing these “lesser” shows or just not re-airing them at all. Spend a few days shooting everything with the talent, and it’ll be ready to air by the time it’s needed. 

Sure, there may be some royalty and contractual issues that need to be dealt with - but everything old can be new again. In fact - you could air these versions as “Remastered Specials” and they become an event in themselves.