Personality-based Television News

TV news format is a-changing. Quality news reporting is now thought to be just an appendage, a material to produce a popular studio-based show.

The focus is now more on maximizing the airtime and TRP returns from a good stand alone report.

Cost of production is one factor. Studio based shows cost less compared to a similar show comprising of reports from the field.

Grabbing airspace for extended prime time TRP ratings is another.
Stand alone reports , however incisive, can't be stretched for long.
News programming demands airtime by the half-hour (24 min).
Discussions and talking heads serve this purpose well.

Due to populist motives, for the most mundane or intense discussion a celebrity guest is producer's demand. Thus we find a Mahesh Bhatt, a Shobha De and a Shabana Azmi, a staple of guest lists.

The output department of a news channel is a past master in translating miniscule footages into hot property programmes. They all well know how to chisel out a popular show from a clip/byte from a common news source.
Here news is at a premium. Holding ground to the maximum period while sustaining viewer's attention is more important.

TV News anchors/news editors are celebrities in their own rights and it is only logical to cash in on their persona to gain eyeballs.

The bottom line is personality based television. Where the reporter and his report has fallen on bad days.
It's the 'news executives' based in the studio who are setting the news and programming agenda with an eye on TRP.