Like most industries, the U.S. TV industry faces a great deal of uncertainty following the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic to the United States, but a new report from eMarketer shows, especially for the legacy cable TV business, which already was on a downward trajectory prior to the national health crisis.

More than half of consumers said they're not considering the purchase of big-ticket items -- homes, cars, trips, luxury goods -- in the next three months.

Social distancing because of the coronavirus pandemic has led 14% of U.S. adults to either sign up for a streaming video service or plan to do so.

A majority of Americans (56%) says they are pleased to hear about the actions brands are taking in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to findings of a study conducted by the American Association of Advertising Agencies March 18. Nearly half (43%) also said it's reassuring to hear from brands they know and trust during the national health crisis, while 40% said the specifically want to hear what brands are doing to deal with it.

The COVID-19 pandemic has inspired many people to turn to social media to connect with others as they work from home or isolate themselves to avoid infection. Their posts reflect a range of feelings about the crisis.

Remarkably, nearly a third of Americans have little or no concern about the impact COVID-19 will have on themselves and or their families. That's the finding of a new tracking study GfK is fielding on American consumers reaction to the pandemic. "Concerns are generally tempered, with nearly twice as many people being somewhat concerned vs. very concerned," the report notes.

Costco and Sam's Club stood out with store visits that rose about 20% from a year earlier during the first week of March as consumers stocked up on necessities.

While TV lost only a small number of advertisers during the Great Recession, a print medium like magazines saw the number of advertisers erode by 10,619: from 36,020 at the start of the recession to 25,401 the year after it.

TV viewership not only increased in South Korea, the first country outside of China to see a significant jump in coronavirus cases, but also weather emergencies like hurricanes and paralyzing snowstorms.

One of the interesting -- but probably not surprising -- changes in consumer media behavior related to the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak is the impact it is having on usage of VPNs, or virtual private networks, enabling users to send or receive private data across public online networks.