People are mad that ‘The View’ keeps getting preempted for news updates about the coronavirus

By Lydia Dishman

These are challenging times. COVID-19 has incited the panic-buying of toilet paper and toothpaste, cancellations of just about every type of event from weddings and funerals to basketball games and Broadway shows, and catastrophic closures of many businesses. With everyone now at least aware that they should #stayhome to #staysafe, there are not many places to turn to escape the chaos.

Plenty of streaming services can help you assuage your cabin fever. However, if you’re a devotee of ABC’s daytime talk show The View (which counts more than 2.5 million viewers per episode), the coronavirus pandemic is threatening to take that away too. The show, whose chief demographic is the over-55 set, has continued its regular production schedule without a studio audience, albeit with cohosts Whoopi Goldberg, Meghan McCain, and Sunny Hostin reporting in remotely. Joy Behar was on self-quarantine for a time but has since returned.

But since the outbreak, The View‘s regular programming has been frequently preempted by daily press conferences—from the likes of New York governor Andrew Cuomo or the White House—aimed at pushing the latest news and precautions to the masses. And while this news is of utmost importance, taking away people’s entertainment may be screwing with their sanity when they’re sequestered. A number of disgruntled viewers have taken to Twitter to voice their displeasure:

Fast Company reached out to ABC to ask about alternative ways to watch The View and will update if we hear back. In the meantime, you can catch snippets of each episode on the show’s Twitter feed.

 

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