Diaconescu took over as presenter and producer of the
press review,
Dintre sute de ziare, expanding on the format with talk-show elements and political revelations—as noted by
Irina Margareta Nistor, the "feigned innocence" that infused Diaconescu's commentary was captivating enough, making viewers stick with an otherwise "declining channel"; Diaconescu himself noted that he had obtained from Buhoiu a time-slot when other stations were having their evening film, and that he had beat them by number of viewers within a year of the show's existence. He also complained that advertisers were avoiding him, "so as to not give the impression that they are somehow sponsoring the disclosures on my show." By November 1998, he was criticizing the
National Peasantists (main pillars of the CDR coalition), airing allegations that they had been bribed by Vasile Gorun, who was facing trial for racketeering. He warned viewers that he was being censored over this issue, and that Tele7 as a whole was risking its license. This moment marked the start of clashes between Tele7's staff and the CDR establishment. In subsequent editions, Diaconescu vented his
communist nostalgia, describing Ceaușescu as preferable to rule by the CDR anti-communists. He aired these views during a live interview with Ceaușescu's niece, Mihaela, who made a point of disagreeing with him. She refrained from criticizing the 1989 regime change, including her uncle's execution, and instead argued that there were no ultimate benefits to having absolute power. Diaconescu himself argued that "those in power" were riled up, and that, as a result, he was constantly threatened with arrest. The scandal was instead viewed as a form of attention-seeking by other journalists, since Hartner, who went on
Dintre sute de ziare to state her rebuttal, could not explain why her telephone number and supposed diary had been obtained by Tele7. Later in 1999, Diaconescu sparked criticism with his intense coverage of footballer Ștefan Vrăbioru's on-pitch death, placing the blame on
Mugur Bolohan, of the opposing team. Three years later, sports journalist
Cătălin Tolontan referred to this as a "horrible" moment in television history. Tele7's weekend shows received some investment, but, according to journalist Cipriana Petre, in November 1998 were still "as boring as on any other day of the week". Management had also approved of a game show,
Ora 1 a venit—hosted by Andrei Duban, it doubled as a venture of
the national lottery. This partnership created issued in February 2000, when five forest wardens from
Agăș won 5.5 billion
lei on a shared ticket, but were unaware of this—since Tele7 was not available at Agăș. Overall, the quality of programming was well below the standard set by other channels, and ratings were plummeting. From 1998, the station had a nighttime
psychotherapeutic segment, whose producer and host was Monica Ropotă. She was fired by head producer Mihaela Cutuș in February 2000, despite being defended by Buhoiu. In mid-2000, Ropotă's replacement was producing
Nopți albe, which veered into political and social commentary targeting the host's various adversaries (from the 19th-century
Junimea society to a contemporary liberal essayist,
Gabriel Liiceanu). The station as a whole criticized the
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in early 1999, voicing support for
Slobodan Milošević and his handling of the
Kosovo War. Within the Buhoiu-approved grid, the network aired a talk-show segment called
Lumea în clipa 2000. It began in June 1999, with its permanent hosts being Cutuș and Marian Oprea. By July, it had drawn attention for having Securitate general
Nicolae Pleșiță as a near-permanent guest. His
profanity-laden statements censured former anti-communist dissidents, whom he described as impostors (only professing admiration toward
Mihai Botez, seen by Pleșiță as more genuine in his protests), or described Pleșiță's own dealings with
Carlos the Jackal. In March 2000, Pleșiță commented on the recent death of an anti-communist exile,
Ion Rațiu, demanding a moment of silence for this "worthy adversary" and "friend of Romania"; Rațiu's former associate, Dinu Mussulis, condemned the gesture as hypocritical, and the terms used as othering Rațiu. Pleșiță's other comments on the show contributed to his prosecution on grounds of
incitement in September 2000. He responded to the prosecutors' allegations with another appearance on
Lumea în clipa 2000.
Vartan Arachelian created and hosted another political show,
Măștile puterii, soon after remarked for heated debates. One of these took place in late May 2000, and centered on the issue of
bank runs; it opposed lawyer
Niculae Cerveni to economist
Mircea Ciumara and to Arachelian himself. Another new talk show was hosted by novelist
Dan Claudiu Tănăsescu, who was simultaneously the mayor of
Mogoșoaia.
Corina Chiriac, who had built her career as an
easy listening performer before having her own weekend show on TVR, Diaconescu, who renamed his signature show as
Senzațional at some point around July 2000, boasted record ratings, with an increase in advertising revenues. This claim was received with skepticism by the columnist at
Jurnalul Național, who noted that the accompanying commercials were for toothpaste, light-bulbs, and guided tours. By then,
Evenimentul Zileis TV critic had asserted that the absolute worst of the medium had been reached by two shows on Tele7. One was
Ora 1 a venit, with Duban using ungrammatical language; the other was Diaconescu's, which had hosted
Paul Philippe of Romania—airing and justifying Paul's claims to the
Romanian throne. In
Observator Cultural magazine, Ana Maria Sandu shared her thoughts on newer editions of
Rendez-vous la Tele 7, describing its presenters as "grotesque" beings, exchanging "idiotic remarks" with guests that were likewise afflicted by "chronic dilettantism". which sometimes blended in with interest in supposed revelations about President Ceaușescu. During a televised dialogue with Buhoiu in November 1999,
parapsychologist Ion Țugui argued that Ceaușescu had been led though life by a
Romani witch. Topical shows included one co-created by Țugui and
Emil Străinu, whose regular guests were female
clairvoyants. One of these segments, called
Domino, drew coverage in early 2000 for promoting prophecies according to which Romania was due for a devastating earthquake. ==Restructuring failures and 2000 elections==