PBC National News

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PBC National News
pbcnationalnews_hdformat.png

Program type National newscast
Program length 60 minutes, including adverts
Program genre Current news and affairs
Language English, Pacitalian (SAP)

Visual format 1080p HD/AC
Audio format Bluefox Sonaté 6.x digital

Principal anchors
 
Francesco Andanto
Anna Maria Ponnati

Frequency Once daily, Mon-Sun
Standard timeslot
 
1900 AOTC+3
Time delayed 60 min. for AOTC+2

Viewers (ADV)
 · National rank
 · Audience share
647,300,000 (1/2007)
1st
27.4%

Country of origin Pacitalia_smaller.jpg Pacitalia
Original broadcaster PBC1
Original run 1950 - present

PBC National News, known on-air simply as National News, is the Pacitalian Broadcasting Corporation's flagship national newscast, and by total viewers, currently serves as both the most-watched and most popular news program in the Democratic Capitalist Republic of Pacitalia, and the most-watched national newscast in Atlantian Oceania. It airs daily at 1900 AOTC+3, Monday through Sunday on PBC1, and is time-delayed by one hour to air at the same time in the western Pacitalian time zone (AOTC+2). The program is streamed live on the broadcaster's website and broadcast live or on tape-delay in 22 countries. Since 2002, Francesco Andanto and Anna Maria Ponnati have anchored the newscast.

The newscast reports on major Pacitalian and international news stories. The programme generally follows a format of news headlines for the first 40 minutes of the show, with two advertisement interruptions during the course of the show (usually at 20 and 40 minutes in). The last twenty minutes of the show are dedicated to a feature report, which may be an interview, a short documentary or a panel or roundtable discussion. In exceptional circumstances the standard format may be waived, and in other circumstances the show moved to an earlier timeslot to provide blanket coverage of a major breaking news story.

History

PBC National News launched on 1st September, 1950, coinciding with the launch of the Pacitalian Broadcasting Corporation's television production facilities. It was the network's first foray into television since its creation in 1924. Andreo Maladanno, a schoolteacher from Castello Sampasano, Pomentane, was hired as the newsreader after an extensive national contest. The broadcast was originally only in Pacitalian but with the advent of international transmission in the 1960s during Vegantonio Assosenza's tenure, the newscast was switched to English. Pacitalian "linguacasting" returned in 1979 with the advent of the secondary audio program, which allowed viewers to switch between Marco Vertastati's English program or a visual-only version with Pacitalian dubbed over it.

Marco Vertastati became the most storied newsreader in Pacitalian history during his 23-year tenure, the longest in Pacitalian television history. Vertastati's crisp, baritone voice earned a reputation for "making the ladies swoon with delight" (1). At the age of 78, Vertastati finally left the anchor's chair in a tearful goodbye that registered the highest number of Pacitalian and international viewers of any Pacitalian program, ever. Replacing him was the program's first anchor duo, in 2002, a duo which consists of the first woman ever to anchor the show.

Anchors