“After months of brainstorming and negotiations, the Hollywood studios and unions adopted rigorous safety protocols to get TV production going again. And, with fits and starts, it has been going, churning out fresh content with original episodes hitting the air first with the soaps in daytime, followed by unscripted and then scripted series in primetime. But [it] has not been easy. And it has been expensive.”

Source: Deadline

AT A GLANCE:

As part of its Reopening Hollywood series, Deadline co-editor-in-chief, TV, Nellie Andreeva, takes a close look at the costs of television production during the COVID-19 pandemic. She notes that while there have been production shutdowns, safety procedures appear to be working — so far — with no reported fatalities or major illnesses, and virtually no cases of on-set transmission. This success is based on the so-called “Swiss cheese approach,” which includes “multiple layers of safeguards, so even if a hole appears in each of them, as a whole, the layers stacked together make for a solid block.” But the cost for such protocols can be staggering, Andreeva reports, adding increases of up to ten percent to production budgets. These increased costs can make otherwise profitable shows less profitable, making modest performers potential targets for cancellation

Head over to Deadline to read the full story.