We normally have an uninterrupted string of episodes in April, but things are changing tonight. And no, this isn’t a bad April Fool’s Day prank. Chicago Fire and The Masked Singer are among the shows interrupted or pre-empted due to President Trump.
Trump announced that he was going to hold a press conference tonight, April 1, to share an update on the war in Iran. This is scheduled to take place at 9 p.m. ET, and with just 24 hours noticed, the broadcast networks had to figure out how they were going to handle this. After all, the four big networks need to air the address.
Chicago Fire, PD, and More Will Be Delayed
For most networks, it means delaying the shows. NBC will delay Chicago Fire and Chicago PD, after running the Med hour at the usual time. ABC will push back The Greatest Average American, as that was set to start at 9 p.m. ET.
This delay is expected to be around 20 minutes. That’s the amount of time the White House has said the address will take, so, it’s worth tuning in around then if you don’t want to watch it.
If you watch the late shows, they are going to run later than normal. You’ll need to wait until 11:50 pm ET for both The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. While Jimmy Kimmel Live will also be pre-empted, it is airing a rerun tonight, so it likely won’t be the biggest issue.
The Masked Singer and Survivor Will Be Interrupted
Meanwhile, FOX and CBS will need to interrupt their programming. The two-hour Masked Singer finale was set to air from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET. Now, there will be an interruption in the middle of the episode, with the second hour airing after the address.
The same thing will happen with Survivor. While not the finale, this was set to be a two-hour episode, and will not need to be interrupted partway through.
The downside for many is that The Masked Singer is the season finale. Everyone was ready to find out who would be crowned the winner, as well as seeing who was underneath all the remaining masks, by 10 p.m. ET!
CBS was getting ready to air the all-new American Culinary Cup at 10 p.m. ET. That will not be pushed by 20 minutes, airing straight after Survivor.
It’s always annoying when politics takes over our TV screens. However, this is an important topic, as the globe is suffering from this war and the rising prices on gas.
