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During breaking news events, television and radio stations normally interrupt regular programming to provide live coverage of the event in question. This type of break is most common at 24-hour news networks where an anchor is always on-call for live interruptions. It is also commonly used when a serious event is in the process of taking place, such as an armed intruder entering a school building or severe weather conditions like a tornado or landfalling hurricane.
Before the days of 24-hour news, programming was only interrupted for extremely urgent events, such as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which required nationwide coverage and prompted numerous station affiliates to stop their own programming. These interruptions were known as newsflashes or special reports.
In recent years, network affiliates have started to use a breaking news ticker during regularly scheduled programming, lessening the need for cut-ins.
