In-Person Summer Television Critics Association Tour Slated To Return To Langham Pasadena Canceled

It’s official: The Television Critics Association (TCA) has decided to cancel its in-person 2022 Summer Press Tour, which was slated to return to The Langham in Pasadena, and said all sessions will continue to be virtual. 

All in-person TCA Press Tours were put on hold and replaced with virtual Q & A sessions when the pandemic started spreading in 2020. This Summer Press Tour had been slated to be the first in-person tour returning to The Langham in Pasadena after 2 years.

For the City of Pasadena and Langham Hotel, that means lost income. People with knowledge of TCA costs told IndieWire that networks could have spent up to a half a million dollars per day during the biannual press tour — costs which include flying in talent and paying for their hotel rooms, cars, hair and makeup; catering; and throwing parties. 

The TCA Board shared the “extremely disappointing news” with its members via email late last month, IndieWire reported.

Due to growing concerns over surging COVID numbers in Los Angeles, the TCA board announced they were canceling the two-week in-person tour, especially after being told many of the major networks and online platforms were pulling out of in-person participation and would opt for virtual instead.

“After additional networks decided to switch to virtual-only press conferences, and a conversation with the hotel, The TCA Board was forced to cancel the in-person press tour,” the TCA said in an email to members. “We are in discussions with networks to plan a virtual schedule, and will share this information as soon as we have it. Those virtual days may or may not be in the same timeframe as the current schedule.”

The Summer Press Tour was due to start in-person on Wednesday, July 27, and was to take about two and a half weeks, during which critics from newspapers around the country could screen shows ahead of time and interview the creators, actors, and executives, and come up with reports and articles that would usually run throughout the TV season. Each major network sponsors a full day of its own, while some opt to share the day – and the costs – with other outfits. 

One of the first networks to announce they were opting for the virtual press tour was CW – the CBS and WarnerMedia joint venture – who said they weren’t going to their July 31 press day. 

All of Disney’s platforms – ABC, FX, Hulu, Disney + and NatGeo – said they were pulling out of in-person participation as well, which means five days of lost programming for TCA members who were hoping to get face-to-face interview time with actors and executives.

Deadline reported that CBS/Paramount, Fox and PBS have all pulled out and decided they will schedule virtual panels. 

Showtime opted out of the in-person press tour as well, the report said. 

The TCA was reportedly planning to require attendees to stay masked inside the Langham ballroom, as Los Angeles was mulling over returning mask mandates last week. But studios were worried about talent getting infected, which could lead to multi-million dollar production shutdowns. 

The Television Critics Association represents more than 200 professional journalists who cover TV for publications across the United States and Canada. The organization has frequently held their biannual press tours at the Langham Pasadena.