What part are Hampton Roads’ lifestyle shows playing in telling COVID-19 story?
Starting every day at 4:30 a.m., the newsrooms of WAVY, WTKR and WVEC begin covering the coronavirus pandemic.
But what about Hampton Roads’ three lifestyle TV shows? What part are they playing in telling the story of COVID-19?
They, too, are involved in the story.
“We have had news anchors from WAVY pop in as our show begins to bring our audience up to date. We are very mindful of this continuing crisis,” said Stephanie M. Cooke, executive producer of “The Hampton Roads Show.”
Patricia Avila, Quincy Carr and Ashley Fish are the co-hosts of “Living 757” airing Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. and Tuesday at 8 p.m. on Cox “YurView” Channel 11. Kerri Furey and Chris Reckling share hosting chores on “The Hampton Roads Show” at 11 a.m. weekdays on WAVY, and at 2 p.m. on Fox 14 Symone Davis reports on what’s trending today.
Cheryl Nelson and April Woodard bring you “Coast Live” weekdays on WTKR at 10 a.m.
The show is aiming for timeliness and human interest segments, Woodard explained.
“It’s an hour break from the doom and gloom and reality of the outbreak,” she said. “It’s a chance to see how other viewers are coping after their lives have changed so dramatically, a chance to escape thoughts of the virus.”
Woodard continued: “We report on how parents are homeschooling their children, how some small businesses fill a void by providing lunch for the kids, how viewers are gathering with friends to watch movies on Netflix while adhering to social distancing.”
On the set of “Living 757,” the co-hosts practice social distancing — sitting far apart — and will continue to do so until April 30. The hosts offer suggestions on how to pass the time while homebound: Re-organize your clothes closets; get the family involved in karaoke; on cold nights, pile into bed with the kids to watch TV; rediscover board games and jigsaw puzzles; do the 2020 census online.
From Reckling of the “Hampton Roads Show”: “Chip away at your solitude with some binge watching. There are plenty of options, plenty of movies, series and classics from television and film available.”
He suggests binging on “Game of Thrones,” “The Sopranos,”
“Sex and the City” and all five seasons of “Breaking Bad.”
To that end, Channel 15 is offering all six seasons of “Downton Abbey” to viewers who enroll in the WHRO Passport library. More than 1,000 episodes of popular PBS shows including “Nova,” “American Masters,” “Nature” and “Masterpiece Theater” are included, and also programming of arts, science, history and lifestyle.
The award-wining films of Ken Burns are included. More shows will be added as time goes by.