If and when COVID-19 goes away and life gets back to “normal” it is a good bet that the TV industry will be changed forever.

“I believe this is actually going to change our industry in terms of how news is gathered, reported and assembled,” says KCBS/KCAL News Director Tara Finestone. “Even if the order is lifted, I don’t know if we’ll go back to working the same way. We’re finding out that a lot of what we’re doing at home in some respects is more efficient. We’re forced to be present and talk to each other.”

The truth is until there is a vaccine for COVID-19, the way TV news people are working will be the new normal. While many are thinking that it will be “this way” for a few more weeks, a vaccine could be a year off or more.

Yes, the virus spread will slow down, but until there is a vaccine it likely is not going to stop infecting people.

As for TV news people, they are doing things now that they never thought they would do.

Evelyn Taft, who reports the weather for KCAL’s evening block, is still getting used to her new reality — doing reports from the family room of her Hollywood home, which has been converted into a mini-studio. “Never in a million years did I ever think I could do my job from home,” said Taft, who has been at the station for 10 years. In addition to the TV in the room, she has a monitor replete with graphics and maps.

Homecasting is now the new normal and TV station owners that focus on the bottom line are seeing what could be the future.

Why have huge stations with a huge price tag, when you can have most of the staff work from home?

Right now, stations are almost empty, the sales staff and the newsroom employees are doing their jobs from home and ratings are as high as they have been in years. You don’t think that the station owners don’t see that?

They have been trying to cut costs for years and right now, they are looking at something that they never really thought of before.

The future could include TV stations that are just a few thousand square feet and most of the staff work remotely.

As for now, most people in TV news will be homecasting for much longer than think and it will almost become the new normal. When it finally is time to head back to the station, it is going to feel weird.

The TV industry is going to change and you will have the coronavirus and bottom line owners to thank for it.

H/T LA Times