What is the motivation behind saturation news coverage of one theme ..from the World Cup to Covid?

Have the BBC and other mainstream broadcasters given up on news? The thought occurred during the recent coverage of the World Cup. The main news story would routinely be a package of interviews and comment about an upcoming game. Not news but speculation. Then with no hint of irony, there would be a move to "other news", which could be something like at earthquake or buildings destroyed, costing many lives. Another favourite was the bulletin reporting the game that had just been played. This would consist of a report on the game, with accompanying vox pops from a pub somewhere. Some viewers no doubt wondered had they not seen this before, people screaming at a television in a pub. The total takeover of the news agenda by one subject has become the norm over recent times. At the time of the Queen's death, there were 10 days of relentless, monotonous coverage. No other news was allowed a look in. Indeed, the coverage took over the whole schedule each day, as all those programs carefully produced for many years before, awaiting the very day of the Queen's death, were rolled out. No dissenting views were permitted, as a sort of coercive compassion took hold. In defence of the broadcasters, this was a once in a lifetime event. There was huge interest amongst the public. But it did go a bit far. At the start of the year came Russia's invasion of Ukraine. News operations moved to Ukraine and neighbouring countries to provide saturation coverage. Original coverage was difficult to obtain, given restrictions on movement in a war zone. This story then moved to home shores, focusing on those fleeing to war zone seeking sanctuary here. The main story though moved back from the saturation levels of the first few weeks to regular updates. The frame of reference though was of good (Ukraine) v bad (Russia), with a theme of unending war. Peace rarely got a mention. This fixation on one subject to the exclusion of all else is something that seems to have developed over recent years. Another was the Covid pandemic, which ran and ran for nearly two years. Little else featured in the news, with infection levels and deaths becoming a daily staple of the coverage. What may have surprised many since has been just how quickly the news agenda shifted in the opposite direction to providing virtually no coverage of Covid. Levels have risen and fallen over the past year but this previously dominant subject has disappeared from the news. The official narrative seems to be that there are effective vaccines now, so it is time to move on - no worries. The story now is more about the after effects of Covid and how it was handled - the corruption around PPE contracts, NHS waiting lists, the debt, people leaving work, never to return. Conspiracy theorists of a Big Brother mindset might think there is some sort of news control going on, switching saturation coverage to suit the interests of the rich and powerful. It seems doubtful if anything so organised could happen, more a gradual chipping away of traditional news values. The reduction of funding for news no doubt plays a part (vox pops for football games or Covid are cheap and easy to compile). A move away from the need to inform and educate the population toward entertaining and in some cases scaring them. What it all amounts to is a mass dumbing down, accompanied with the helpful by-product of asserting greater control over people. Another qualifier from the broadcasters angle is that the subjects focused on are popular, so draw audiences but then viewer numbers should not be the sole criteria for news programming – especially not in the case of public service broadcasting. All is not lost ofcourse, there are so many different places to get news and information these days. The mainstream news channels are but one. Though, in the era of fake news, reliable trusted sources of information are ever more urgently needed. The mainstream news channels, used, to some extent, to perform this task. Now, it would seem, increasingly less. Maybe, they will rediscover their news value compass - relearn what news really is. Put some money into news. The demand should be there. Or maybe not, as people become blinded by a steady diet of the mundane and mindless mixed in with the fear factor.