‘Jeopardy’ & ‘Wheel Of Fortune’ To Film Without Audience Over Coronavirus Concerns

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In what may be precursor to things to come in the TV industry as the U.S. is trying to contain the rapidly growing coronavirus outbreak, game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel Of Fortune will tape episodes without studio audiences for the foreseeable future, Deadline has confirmed.

Distributed by Sony Pictures Television, the long-running syndicated game show film on the Sony lot in Culver City. The news of the temporary elimination of studio audience, first reported by TMZ, comes as Jeopardy host Alex Trebek continues his duties on the program while battling Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Also factoring into the decision is the fact that the game shows’ audiences are generally older and come from out of town. The CDC recently advised people over 60 and those with underlying health problems to strongly consider avoiding activities that involve large crowds and going on long flights.

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