List of entertainment affected by the September 11 attacks

The September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001 had a significant impact on broadcast and venue entertainment businesses, prompting cancellations, postponements, and changes in content. In the United States and several other countries, planned television screenings of films and fictional programs where terrorism, plane crashes, bombs, or other related disasters were the primary subject were postponed or cancelled.
Films.
Numerous films were cancelled that were in production, and many films were edited. The most common way of editing was to delete or obscure shots of the World Trade Center and events similar to the attacks. There were various reasons given for the alterations, including keeping material up-to-date, as a gesture of respect for those who died, and to avoid trauma for those emotionally affected by the attack. There are also many films which notably were "not" edited.
In all, roughly 45 films were edited or postponed because of the 9/11 attacks.
Edited films.
With the World Trade Center added.
Some filmmakers have added the World Trade Center to films and television series that are set during periods when the buildings were still standing.
Non-altered films.
Some films released after 9/11 kept scenes of the World Trade Center in them.
Television.
News coverage.
Television coverage of the September 11 attacks and their aftermath was the longest uninterrupted news event in the history of U.S. television, as the major U.S. broadcast networks were on the air for 93 continuous hours. From the moment the networks broadcast the news that the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center, all programs and commercials were suspended, with all four networks broadcasting uninterrupted news coverage. This was the first time since the advent of cable and satellite television that a vast number of cable networks would suspend programming to air live news coverage of events. Programming on the cable and satellite channels was also altered in the immediate aftermath, as only appropriate re-runs were aired, and commercials were either changed, suspended, or replaced by PSA messaging to help the attack's victims. Millions of television viewers, watching live broadcasts of the attacks unfolding, would see the second plane hit the South Tower and both towers collapse.
This was the first time since the assassination of John F. Kennedy that television networks announced that there would be no television commercials or programs for an indefinite period of several days after the attacks, as it was widely felt that it was an inappropriate time for "fun and entertainment" programs to be shown when so much death and destruction was being seen live on television. During the week of the attacks, evening news broadcasts for the networks nearly doubled its average viewership audience, and it was also estimated that American adults watched an average of eight hours of television a day, again nearly double the average viewership audience. To keep up with the constant flow of information, many news networks began running continuous updates in the form of a news ticker that crawled along the bottom of the screen, which soon became a permanent feature of many networks.
During the day of the attacks, and in the days following, news broadcasters scrambled to report accurate information. Occasionally, erroneous information was broadcast. An examination of CNN's coverage of September 11, 2001 (which was replayed online, virtually in its entirety, on the fifth anniversary of the attacks on September 11, 2006) reveals that following the attack on the Pentagon, CNN also reported a fire had broken out on the National Mall and that according to a wire report, a car bomb had exploded in front of the State Department. It also broadcast an interview with a witness to the Pentagon attack who said it was a helicopter that hit the building, not a plane. CNN was not alone in airing these or similar inaccurate reports, as the subsequent examination of coverage by other networks has shown.
Use of pictures.
When asked for her thoughts on the attacks, First Lady Laura Bush stated that "we need to be very careful about our children". She warned parents not to let their children see the confronting images of destruction over and over, recommending that parents turn off the television and do something constructive, reassuring and calming with their kids.
Long-term television and radio transmitter damage.
The transmitter facilities of WPIX, as well as six other New York City television stations and several radio stations, were destroyed as the WTC collapsed, and as mentioned above, six engineers for WABC, WCBS, WNBC, WNET and WPIX died while maintaining broadcasting operations despite the circumstances. WPIX's satellite feed froze midway into the live footage; the image remained on the screen for much of the day, broadcasting continent-wide, until WPIX was able to set up alternate transmission facilities; as mentioned above, Superstation WGN was used to provide a national outlet for the station's programming when transmission resumed. Eventually, adequate analog broadcast transmissions resumed several weeks later as the FCC allowed extraordinary license moves and construction permits to the Armstrong Tower along the New Jersey Palisades and the Empire State Building, returning the latter to being the main transmission site in the Tri-State area; the transmitter atop 4 Times Square (then the Condé Nast Building), originally planned as only an FM backup site before the attacks, soon became a primary transmitter for several FM and television stations. However, the advent of digital television, which used New York as one of its flagship test markets, suffered a large setback, and many stations would not build their new digital facilities until 2005 or 2006, and networks and stations across the country, in turn, had to push back many deadlines both locally and nationally regarding high definition on-air operations while New York's shuffle of transmission facilities took place.
Programming.
The most immediate impact to television was the loss of David Angell, a co-creator and co-executive producer from the NBC show "Frasier", who was among the passengers on American Airlines Flight 11.
In the United States, the start of the 2001–2002 television season was put on hold due to the extensive news coverage (several series, such as NBC's "Crossing Jordan", were originally scheduled to debut on September 11), with mid-September premieres delayed until later in the month. Late-night talk shows such as "The Tonight Show" and "Late Show with David Letterman" were also off the air; Letterman was already dark for the week for a pre-season vacation. Even after regular programming resumed, several talk shows remained off the air for several more days as writers and hosts determined how best to approach the sensitive situation. David Letterman was quoted on CNN as questioning whether he would even continue hosting his show. Ultimately, Letterman, Jay Leno, Jon Stewart, and other talk show hosts based in New York and Los Angeles returned to the airwaves with emotional initial broadcasts, with Letterman punctuating his thoughts by asking his audience how the attacks "made any goddamn sense." This was the second of three instances where the start of the television season was delayed due to issues outside of the control of the major television networks; the other instances were the 1988–89 season (as a result of the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike) and the 2020–21 season (due to television production being halted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic).
Several television series, most notably "The West Wing" and "Third Watch", produced special episodes addressing the attacks. "Law & Order" and its spinoff series all began their fall season premieres with a tribute to the victims. Shows such as the military based "JAG" and "Third Watch" (a series about New York City first responders) made major changes to their ongoing storylines to incorporate the event's aftermath.
On "Politically Incorrect's" September 17, 2001 show, Maher's guest Dinesh D'Souza disputed President Bush's label of the terrorists being "cowards", saying the terrorists were warriors. Maher agreed, and according to a transcript replied "We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it's not cowardly". The show was cancelled the following June, which Maher and many others saw as a result of the controversy, although ABC denied that the controversy was a factor, and said the program was cancelled due to declining ratings. Maher said that the show struggled for advertisers in its final months.
Delayed or cancelled entertainment awards shows.
The postponements and cancellations of various entertainment programs sparked rumors that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences were postponing or even canceling the 74th Academy Awards ceremony. However, in a written statement released by president Frank Pierson, he denied any rumors that the attacks would affect the scheduling of the awards presentation saying that "the terrorists will have won" if they cancelled it. Nevertheless, the show went on as planned on March 24, 2002. The security was much tighter than in previous years, and the show had a more somber tone. According to "New York Magazine", there were 26 references to the attacks during the telecast. On October 16, 2006, the awards event itself was designated a National Special Security Event by the United States Department of Homeland Security.
Reflecting the significant and enduring impact of September 11th on popular culture, months and years after the attacks, events were still impacted, with the 2003 Grammy Awards being held at Madison Square Garden instead of Staples Center as planned. Blockbuster Entertainment terminated their awards ceremony permanently shortly after the second delay of the Emmys.
Sports.
Many major sporting events in North America were cancelled. These included:
The following overseas sports events were delayed:
Sporting events that were not delayed despite the attacks include: