I called the station and pointed out what waste of gas it was, and if they didn’t get away from the residential area and hover over an empty field I was calling the FAA.
They were unapologetic but did move the chopper.
Probably not taping, but hovering and acting as a microwave relay platform.
The unit(s) on the ground do all the video and then have a microwave uplink to the chopper which relays to the teeheevee station for recording/broadcast.
Usually, if the chopper is photographing/videoing the actual scene, they will mostly circle, getting various shots/angles. Doing that, they don't usually need to hover for long periods. Acting as a microwave relay, they need to stay in one stationary place - thus hovering for long periods.
With your complaint (and possibly how many others???), they'd just have the chopper move off to another position and relay from there. Precise location isn't needed, but steady hovering would be, in order to be the "target" of the uplinks.
I'd suspect that the hovering would be most nerve wracking for the pilot, requiring the most precise control.
I think newer uplink equipment doesn't need the relay to be or stay in a precise location, like some of the older microwave stuff.