Has the novelty of remotely shot shows worn off?

The Hollywood Reporter

American Idol and The Voice have seen their ratings tumble with the introduction of their remote shows. The second Disney Family Singalong lost half the audience of the first. All Rise's special remote edition had ho-hum numbers. And while the first SNL At Home edition saw a ratings surge, the next two episodes, including last weekend's season finale, came in below the show's season average. "Has the novelty of remote production worn off, or after several weeks of ratings bumps fueled by widespread stay-at-home mandates during the novel coronavirus pandemic, are the numbers just reverting to their natural levels for this time of year?" asks The Hollywood Reporter's Rick Porter. "It's probably a bit of both." As he points out, Since its peak in late March, TV usage has declined slowly but steadily each week. Nielsen's Total Use of Television metric — encompassing traditional and time-shifted TV watching, viewing through internet-connected devices, use of video game consoles and even DVD playback — is still well above its pre-pandemic levels, but it has also fallen by about 12 percent over the past month."