Learning to speak German was not too difficult for me but where I did have my largest troubles was in trying to understand the news (as you mentioned).  Popular shows contain a much more popular vocabulary and are mainly conversational with appropriate related action where context is gained by the dialogue and action itself.

News on the other hand has a much more specialized vocabulary and is narrated without a lot of action or dialogue context.  It helped that my field was political science so that I had a special interest in the special vocabulary but it was still exponentially more difficult.

Soap Operas!  Oh My . . .  I got hooked on one once back in the 80s.  I had to be kidnapped and deprogrammed before it all ended.  :)  They are best taken in small controlled doses, like any recreational drug.