In 2000, Helmi Johannes helped established Metro TV in Jakarta and served as executive producer, news research & development manager and news services manager as well as newscaster(2000–2005). Metro TV is Indonesia's first 24-hour news channel founded by media tycoon Surya Paloh who also owns the "Media Indonesia" daily. There Helmi served as weekend anchor of the network's main evening newscast "Metro Hari Ini" and he also hosted "Midnight Live", a mixture of talk show and live report on real-life issues.