• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, March 17, 2020

Best-case scenario: Hang on for a month -- from March 14 to April 14. Worse case: Three months, which brings us to mid-June. This timeline comes from the White House task force, concerning how long the coronavirus will last.

But remember. This is the White House. Maybe six months is better. Maybe.

This applies to everything we can discern -- media, marketing and other businesses.

Until then, virtually all new TV shows/episodes on network, cable syndication, OTT and premium digital video platforms have been postponed, delayed or temporarily on hiatus.

What isn’t on hiatus? Daily TV news and business shows. Those viewing levels are probably rising sharply -- especially as most, if not all, U.S. workers “hunker” down at home.

Are TV advertisers still buying? By any measure, they are. That’s because there are still fewer big, ad-supported media alternatives to big, legacy TV shows. In this case, it means massive numbers of reruns across all TV platforms. Add in live TV news content.

All this seems to suggest more sterile-looking TV content.

Social distancing is the new rule. Media is not about distancing. We were now told, with coronavirus concerns, that TV consumption will climb. But what kind of content?

Add in other higher media home usage to all of this -- work-related activities on laptop, media devices, as well as traditional TV entertainment and video gaming.

But this doesn’t necessarily mean higher advertising revenues for TV networks' stations, radio, OTT/connected TV platforms, websites and other media.

If consumers are fearful of shopping in malls and big-box consumer stores, marketing efforts would seemingly be diminished. Amazon might do better -- even as it has warned about shortages of household products.

Initially, TV content owners -- TV shows, sporting events and presidential debates -- all focused on TV content without in-studio audiences, fans in stands, or concerned political voters.

Then came cancelling any fresh TV content -- live, scripted, unscripted or otherwise.

What’s next?