ANN Announces the End of “24 Minutes with Zoran Kesić” on Nova S

“24 Minutes with Zoran Kesić” will no longer air on Nova S, Adria News Network said in a statement carried in full by N1 Serbia.

The network said decisions at Nova S would be made on professional and economically rational grounds, without accepting pressure from governments, clients, suppliers or interest groups. It said that principle also covered pressure applied through public campaigns, including campaigns on the channel’s own platforms.

ANN said the program’s contract had been reviewed by the new management as an issue inherited from the previous owner. The review took time because the new team had taken over the company less than two weeks earlier, it said.

The network described the show as one of the most expensive items in the channel’s schedule. Its total annual cost exceeded half a million euros for fewer than 30 hours of programming a year. That figure included not only the presenter’s fee, but also the full production in Nova S studios, use of the channel’s equipment and the work of its employees.

ANN said the expense could not be justified by the program’s marginal commercial performance, so it decided not to extend the contract. The network framed the move as part of a broader effort to impose financial discipline, address major imbalances in the previous allocation of funds and direct investment where it could have the greatest effect.

It said an external supplier had publicly discussed the issue in writing and on the channel while the review was still under way. ANN said it respected that freedom but regretted the decision, adding that the public intervention had changed neither the figures nor the costs and had not affected the final outcome.

The network acknowledged the show’s entertainment value and the loyalty of its audience. It said the program’s creators had announced plans to continue on their own platform and wished them success, while thanking the “24 Minutes” team for its years of work.