As coronavirus dominates TV news, that reaches a new peak: Two virus specials – one on CNN, the other on PBS – will air at the same time (in some time zones), 8 p.m. Thursday (March 19).
In addition, Fox News Channel will have a special at 10 p.m. Sunday. The details are:
– “Coronavirus: Fact and Fears” will be 8-10 p.m. ET Thursday. That’s the second CNN special, hosted by Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta (shown here), to use a “town hall” approach on the subject. It will include Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Celine Grounder and an interview with a patient in the vaccine clinical trial.
– “Confronting Coronavirus” was already scheduled for 8-9 p.m. Thursday on PBS. It’s from the “PBS Newshour” team, with Judy Woodruff hosting.
– “America vs. Virus” will be 10 p.m. ET Sunday on Fox News. Harris Faulkner will anchor, with experts – including Dr. Marc Siegel and Dr. Nicole Saphier – discussing major outbreaks in the past 200 years, plus a worst-case scenario for this one and what people can do to stop it.
Among other networks, ABC has been especially intense about virus coverage. It’s had two primetime specials and has inverted latenight, with “Nightline” virus coverage at 11:35 p.m. and Jimmy Kimmel reruns at 12:35 a.m.
And beginning Wednesday, Michael Strahan’s “GMA3” hour (1 p.m. weekdays on many ABC stations) has temporarily been replaced by “Pandemic: What You Need to Know,” with Amy Robach and Dr. Jennifer Ashton.