Amid the Coronavirus Shutdown, Hosts’ DIY Approach Keeps QVC on the Air

By

Image via QVC from the New York Times.

By Jennifer Leonard

While Pennsylvania schools are closed and all but the most essential of businesses shuttered, West Chester’s QVC is still selling, live on-air, wrote Caity Weaver in The New York Times last week.

Per Governor Tom Wolf, “electronic shopping and mail-order houses” are permitted to operate.

A big upside to this edict is that the at-home shopping retailer like QVC can offer viewers a chance to escape the 24/7 news cycle of upsetting warnings and statistics.

Thankfully, there is no requirement to stay six feet away from TVs and smart phones.

QVC Studio Park has streamlined its personnel, abiding by government recommendations for social distancing. Now, on-screen hosts are filling hours of airtime—in DIY hair and makeup—alone.

There are no guests or experts visiting to chat up shoppers on the virtues of each product. Instead, the folks who add the color and camaraderie are calling and Skyping in.

Broadcasting in the midst of a global pandemic can make for some awkward moments, such as when host Kerstin Lindquist lauded Jamie Foxx’s new line of sunglasses as great for skiing and relaxing at the beach.

She quickly qualified that they are also great for taking a walk outside. Her save worked and multiple sunglass styles sold out.

As one of only places to find live programming outside of news channels, QVC is doing its part to fill a happiness void with its trademark chipper enthusiasm.

Learn more about how QVC is marching forward in uncertain times in The New York Times.

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Jennifer Leonard is a writer at VISTA Today, specializing in retail and consumer marketing.

A resident of West Goshen, Jennifer has nearly 20 years of experience as a full-time editor and writer for magazines including Woman’s World, Women’s Health, Cosmopolitan and Seventeen.

Jennifer is available at jleonard@vista.today.

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