Nova S Cancels 24 minuta sa Zoranom Kesićem Over High Production Costs

Adria News Network Cites Production Costs as Reason for Cancellation

The collapse of the agreement between the production team and Adria News Network halted plans for the new season, which had been scheduled to premiere on September 19. Public uncertainty began earlier in the month when Zoran Kesić stated on social media that while a contract for the upcoming season had been signed in June, the network side had not provided a signature. Executive director Pedro Vargas David was officially recorded in mid-August as the director of companies within Adria News Network following its acquisition by the Portuguese investment fund Alpac Capital.

Management defended the delay and ultimate cancellation by pointing to financial metrics. According to Adria News Network, the program represented one of the most expensive items in the channel’s programming schedule, carrying an annual cost of more than half a million euros for less than 30 hours of yearly output. That figure covered not only the host’s fee but also complete studio production, equipment usage, and staff involvement. The network stated that the expense could not be justified given the marginal commercial performance of the show, adding that financial discipline is essential to protect the long-term sustainability of its journalism.

Cultural Figures and Media Analysts React to the Uncertain Future of the Program

The announcement triggered swift reactions across the media landscape. Actor, director, and producer Dragan Bjelogrlić asserted that the host cannot be silenced permanently. He is only temporarily blocked, as is temporarily blocked the intelligence, honor, education, culture, and everything that is worth anything in this society, Bjelogrlić said.

Journalist and columnist Nenad Kulačin described the program as the largest media brand in Serbia and an essential source of inspiration, expressing confidence that future episodes would find an audience regardless of where they are broadcast. Meanwhile, Aleksandra Krstić, a professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, praised the show as an indispensable weekly review of social and political life. Zoran Kesić and his team have over the past few years in a humorous, smart, and at the same time serious way opened many hidden topics and events, critically examined all possible and impossible politicians, bared the other side of the government, and showed us how to fight for people, professional media, and democratic values, Krstić noted.

Audience Reach and Regional Impact Highlighted by Academic Experts

Actor and journalist Dušan Čavić emphasized the cultural weight of the program, noting that it functioned as a vital corrective for administrative oversight. I know people who do not follow the news, but get information from Kesić, Čavić stated, characterizing the show as a museum of societal reason.

Snježana Milivojević, also a professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, identified two primary audiences that made the program a regional phenomenon. She explained that the combination of sharp humor and serious commentary appealed strongly to younger viewers who consume news differently, as well as to audience segments fatigued by conventional propaganda and political framing. An emission that with a satirical point deconstructs events works as a good political TV caricature, Milivojević observed, linking the anxiety over the show’s future to broader concerns about the shrinking space for independent media ahead of upcoming elections.