Since the outbreak of pandemic Coronavirus/COVID-19, industries have been witnessing a sharp downfall.COVID-19 has infected more than 220,000 people across the globe and poses a threat to human lives.Several entertainment venues such as amusement parks, theatrical productions, sports, live events, and trade shows are canceled or suspended due to the outbreak.Major tourist destinations such as Disney Parks, Universal Parks, cruise lines, and many others are also closed or getting closed.
Apart from the shutdown ofthe almost complete entertainment industry in China, other countries are also closing their entertainment places. In the US, the Los Angeles government officially announced to immediately close all the entertainment venues, as the number of coronavirus climbs up to reach 94 in the country.The closed movie theatres include Regal, AMC Theatres and others. Whereas,Cineplex Inc., Canada’s largest movie exhibitor has announced to close down its 165 theatres nationwide at least till 2ndApril 2020 due to COVID-19 outbreak .Additionally,in India,as per Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association,all the cinema halls are to remain closeduntil further notice. Along with this film shootings and web series in most of the countries are canceleduntil further notices.
The postponements and cancellations of many events and entertainment venues also observed globally. Some of the cancellations, delays, and suspensions include, SXSW Music Festival canceled, Big 10, Big 12, and MVC cancellation, and NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournamentscancellation. Whereas, entertainment cancellations and postponements include Blank Park Zoo which is to be closed till March 31, among many other entertainment venues. Disney has shut down production on live-action projects and postponed three spring releases, including Mulan, and The New Mutants. Whereas, all Disney parks and Broadway shows also decided to remain close until further notice.
In the sports segment events such as Major League Baseball (MLB) and Major League Soccer (MLS) have been delayed for 2-4 weeks and Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour events have been canceled in the US.Along with this, the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Basketball Association (NBA) have suspended their seasons indefinitely.Further, in Europe, several football matches startedwere being played without audiences. Countries include Italy and Spain have been shut down along with several European countries that have also considered lockdowns. The Premier League appears poised to suspend its season. Besides, major events are scheduled in the upcoming summer which includesUEFA’s Euro 2020 football tournament and the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, events shown to billion around the world, which is in dilemma now.
Despite such huge losses, the priority is to take all measures to combat the lethal disease. This crisis across the globe has forced the peoples to stay at home, which results in a surge in the overall TV usage in comparison with the historical times. TV viewing has increasing significantly as consumers ramp up media consumption to stay informed as well as to use their spare time. Moreover, companies are coming up with innovative ideas for online video streaming. For instance, the Egyptian rock band MassarEgbari held an online concert due to the widespread of the disease which encouraged TV viewing as well as online video streaming channels.Further, players such as Netflix Inc. has started its new Netflix Party App, a new Google Chrome browser extension that allows the users to watch together.Thus, exponential growth in the demand of the online video streaming industry has been witnessed in the last couple of months.
