Royal Television Society Programme Awards Shuts Out Audience Completely Because Of Coronavirus

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Britain’s prestigious Royal Television Society Programme Awards is abandoning plans to hold the event in front of a small audience of winners and RTS representatives.

Deadline revealed last week that the Grosvenor House Hotel event will be live-streamed online, with only an intimate audience of winners and organizers in attendance because of the coronavirus outbreak.

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Now, as the situation has developed, the RTS has decided to shut out the audience completely, meaning winners will not get up on stage to collect their awards. There will be no red carpet arrivals either.

Instead, winners and other observers will be able to watch the awards online. Fleabag, Chernobyl, The Circle, Love Island and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK are among the shows vying for prizes.

The RTS said: “In light of the rapidly evolving situation with the COVID-19 we have taken the decision that the live streamed RTS Programme Awards 2020, hosted by Paul Merton, will responsibly and respectfully crown the winners in absentia.”

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