Commenting on the Ministry of Tourism and Culture's public consultation on Public Broadcasting Services, Joe Grima claims that he was setting out "to correct erroneous impressions gained by the twisting and turning of some over this issue" (February 6). Regrettably, as far as his views on Where's Everybody programmes are concerned, not only does he fail miserably to keep his word but proceeds to add another raft of misconceptions of his own.

First, according to the leaked Pricewaterhouse-Coopers report, excluding PBS overheads, Where's Everybody programmes make a profit for PBS. The PWC report states that in 2005 the difference between what PBS paid for Bondiplus and Xarabank and what they picked up in advertising was Lm53,000. That's Lm53,000 in the black. During the public consultation we openly challenged anyone, including Mr Grima, to contest this fact. Our challenge was met with a deafening silence.

Secondly, for the last three years we have been offering our programmes to PBS for free on condition that we retain the advertising revenue. PBS has always refused this offer. One does not have to be a financial genius to figure out why: they stand to lose out financially.

Thirdly, Mr Grima states that Where's Everybody benefits from public funds through a children's programme we produce for PBS. This is not the case. We do not produce such a programme for PBS and never did. But even if it were the case that Where's Everybody produces children's programmes, why should Mr Grima have a problem with it?

Fourth, government broadcasting policy clearly states that current affairs and discussion genre programmes qualify for financial support, including in the form of covering PBS's fixed costs. The obvious reason is that these programmes fulfil the national station's mission. Now whether Mr Grima likes it or not, both Bondiplus and Xarabank fall into this category. He can scream that Xarabank is not a discussion programme till the cows come home. Over 150,000 viewers a week can't be wrong.

The truth that Mr Grima is refusing to face is that Where's Everybody makes a financial success out of a genre of programmes that broadcasting policy states should not necessarily be so. It is his choice to do so. But he does not have the choice to expect Where's Everybody's financially successful programmes to subsidise those which are not. Neither should Mr Grima expect our programmes to totally subsidise PBS's fixed costs for that matter. But that is exactly what has been happening. According to the PWC report, in 2005, PBS was projected to lose Lm120,000 on commercial programmes, the ones that are supposed to be making money for the station. Yet Mr Grima is obsessed with Where's Everybody's success and not with such abysmal failures on the part of PBS.

In this context, a gentle word of caution to Mr Grima. We work hard to produce our programmes and invest plenty of resources to have the quality we have. Our policy is to make the journalistically valid popular and vice versa. The market has responded to our gamble - year in year out, our track record speaks for itself, both in terms of audiences as well as advertising revenue. Now if he thinks that we are going to accept a situation in which other producers or production houses fail to have such a track record and then clamour for government subsidy for their work he is dreadfully wrong. We ask for no privileges but we will not tolerate discrimination.

Sixth, Mr Grima stated that we at Where's Everybody consider ourselves "the chosen people of God". The umpteenth truth that Mr Grima ignores is that, for the first time in PBS's history, over the last three years they have adopted a formal and transparent procedure which gives everyone an opportunity to submit programme proposals and compete fairly.

Where's Everybody has welcomed this procedure with open arms because we like nothing better than to compete. Over the years, some of our proposals have been accepted and some have not. And so be it.

Now if Mr Grima wants to question the selection procedures or the integrity of the PBS officials executing he is free to do so.

What he has no right to do is throw mud at Where's Everybody without a speck of evidence in his hand.

Seventh, Mr Grima is a programme producer and a direct competitor of Where's Everybody. His negative comments on our company are certainly not those of an impartial observer. Enough said.

Finally, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture is promising that it will soon issue a report on which programmes have been receiving government subsidy, how much and on what criteria. On our part, we cannot wait for it to be published. Because finally, the truth rather than the myths peddled by men like Mr Grima will come out.