The Cancellation of Prime-Time News Programs on Entertainment Television

摘要

News programs play an important role in a television station. When a prime-time news program is cancelled from the television, the editor team is demanded to immediately make adaptation. A commercial broadcasting agency should make moves in line with media business. This study takes two cases of prime-time news programs being cancelled, namely Liputan 6 Petang in SCTV and Seputar Indonesia Sore in RCTI. Both are popular news programs on Indonesian television. This study shows that editorial teams have differences and similarities in responding to the cancellation of prime-time news programs. Some of them retain the program name and other attributes already instilled in the audiences' mind, change the format of the news, adjust the news to the millennial segment, and utilize online/digital and offline platforms. This study suggests that there should be regulations governing television news programs. The absence of such regulation will justify media business players' preference for airing merely entertainment programs rather than broadcasting educational ones.