The North Dakota episodes of Antiques Roadshow aired in January and February 2020, and Prairie Public hosted a premiere at Bonanzaville. The most valuable item from this season came from North Dakota—a watch valued at $700,000.

In March, Prairie Public staff were encouraged to work at home to minimize the spread of COVID-19, yet programming and services increased to meet the needs of struggling communities. A slate of special television, radio, and digital services kept the public informed, and public media served as a valuable resource for changing educational needs.

A new radio show produced and edited by Prairie Public, The Great American Folk Show, premiered in May.

Election coverage was substantial, with web embeds and live coverage regionally and from NPR and PBS. All the candidates for ND offices were invited for conversations on Main Street, and Prairie Public hosted live debates for gubernatorial, senate, MN senate, and superintendent of public instruction candidates.

Television premiered season 17 of Prairie Pulse, season 20 of Painting with Paulson, and season 7 of Prairie Musicians. The Fargo Film Festival Preview Show premiered in February, Northwest Angle: Minnesota’s Best-Kept Secret premiered April 30, and a new season of Prairie Mosaic began in October.

In November 2020, radio produced Persistence, a Radio Play by Kathy Coudle-King, about women’s suffrage in North Dakota.

Other radio and podcast projects included a series of discussions titled One Book One North Dakota, a Poems for the Moment poetry project, a Small Stories project in partnership with the North Dakota Council on the Arts, a several-part digital series titled Energy Issues and Answers: Oil Well Reclamation, and the radio/digital/podcast series TellTale: Dakota Folklife and Stories.