Coronavirus: US talk shows Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Last Week Tonight tape without live audiences

Jimmy Fallon is among the talk shows that will film without in-studio audiences. Photo / Getty Images

Late-night television, which has long relied on studio audiences to energise hosts and cue viewers, is doing away with the practice for some of its most important shows because of the coronavirus outbreak.

NBC, CBS, TBS, HBO and Comedy Central have all announced they will now shoot their New York-based late-night programmes without an audience. Among shows affected are some of the late-night world's most prominent: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Bee's programme, a weekly show, will go audience-free beginning Wednesday; the remaining programmes will start the practice next week.

"The safety of our guests and employees is our top priority," NBC said in a statement, which in addition to Fallon will also "suspend live audiences" for Late Night with Seth Meyers.

"The company is hoping to do its part to help to decrease the rate of transmission in our communities," it added.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is taped in a large theatre in New York. Photo / Getty Images

The news comes on the heels of The View and other daytime programmes also shooting in an empty theatre as officials seek to contain the spreading virus. As of Wednesday afternoon, there were 48 reported cases of coronavirus in New York City.

New York's late-night theatres are large if not enormous. The Ed Sullivan Theatre, where Colbert shoots, holds about 500 people.

The news puts late-night into new territory. Past events have caused some changes - some New York-taped shows went to an empty studio after Hurricane Sandy in 2012 - but generally have not attempted the feat for an extended period. The networks did not give a timetable for the return or how the shows might change as a result.

Late-night experts, however, have said that audiences form a key part of a show's energy, and that doing more than a few episodes without live audiences could require a different kind of writing and performing.

It also remains to be seen what effect the changes have on ratings. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has been handily winning the battle this year. Last week it garnered an average of 3.26 million total viewers compared with Fallon's 2 million.