Activation of the innate immune response represents one of the most important cellular mechanisms to limit virus replication and spread in cell culture. Here, we examined the effect of adenoviral gene expression on the antiviral response in adenovirus-transformed cell lines; HEK293, HEK293SF and AGE1.HN. We demonstrate that the expression of the early region protein 1A in these cell lines impairs their ability to activate antiviral genes by the IFN pathway. This property may help in the isolation of newly emerging viruses and the propagation of interferon-sensitive virus strains.