And so it came to pass that the adage "don't believe everything you read" came to be applied to every single word that has been written - whether on the lines or between them - with regards to the finalisation (or not) of the PBS schedule.

This is probably a time when 'the people' (i.e. those who pay TV licences) are wondering whether it is high time that the board of directors and the editorial board were thrown into a vast centrifuge, emerging as an integrated committee that has to appear to have agreed on something. We are also asking, again, why the editorial board had been created, way back, as a separate entity rather than as a sub-committee of the board of directors.

It is also the time when people who had been asked to sit on either board but declined - or left - are thanking the deities they acknowledge.

From where I am standing, it seems that the editorial board was asked to sign a blank cheque, or at least approve a gap-toothed denture; whereas the board of directors exercised its sacrosanct right to ignore its consultant body for a myriad reasons.... some of which are finances, ratings, content, and public service obligations.

Having over the last couple of months assiduously conducted my own research, I had compiled something as close to the final schedule as did not matter, complete with days, times, titles of programmes, and production houses involved.

However, I had to retract the list and rewrite the column from scratch. This happened when the people who had given me the information told me that they had been asked in no uncertain manner, on Thursday afternoon, to hold their horses until after PBS itself announced the final line-up. This will be in a formal launch in mid-September. Others did not; I wonder why.

Now whether the personal piques or clashes of people on either board have anything to do with this ping-pong game is anybody's guess. I would say that a part of the pandemonium obtains because, despite logic and common sense, PBS still straddles two ministries.

Suffusing their airwaves with polysyllabic esoteric words whose meaning escapes most of us (and using similar-sounding instead of the right ones) impresses no one. And neither do the valiant efforts of some hacks at giving the whole shenanigans a political slant.

When push comes to shove, we are reminded of the 'fact' that PBS is a business entity. But should making money take priority over offering us quality fare? On the other hand, one realises that this does not necessarily follow when people purchase airtime and churn out cobbled drivel.

In any case, I find it oppressive that Net and One have both confirmed their schedules, whereas the Station of the Nation dawdles on at this late date. What the boards could at least agree upon, and do us all a favour, is to sweep all that ridiculous tele-shopping off the screen; I was under the impression that ITV had been launched expressly for this purpose, anyway.


Meticulous editing makes sure that The Best of Meander is just that - although the series is so good that it might as well have been re-broadcast in its entirety.

Last Sunday afternoon I was lucky enough to catch, among other items, the interview that Mariella Pisani Bencini had with Josephine Zammit Cordina, doyenne of presenters and consummate actress - whose name, for many people is synonymous with the links she has forged with Australia through Il-Boomerang and Waltzing Matilda.

Citing the order of her preferences as television, radio, and theatre, the smart and gentle Mrs Zammit Cordina also gave us her philosophy of life: it is too short to bear grudges, she said. But if someone has wronged you; well, treat him as you would a hole in the ground - avoid him lest he tries to trip you up again.

Both ladies are indeed a model for all broadcasters, and TVM is lucky to have their services. I wish them both several more years of working in the media.


Something else that caught my eye this week was the lovely series of ten-minute shorts presented by Moira Delia, called Lura l-Iskola, being broadcast in preparation for the back-to-school-routine starting soon.

Directed at parents and carers - and, hopefully, teachers - this series contains a mine of information upon all the aspects of a holistic education. I like the fact that it's not just a vox-pop padded with haphazard factoids, as is sometimes the case with this type of programme. The content - one topic a day - is pithy without being overly didactic, informative without being patronising. The series airs on weekdays at 6.45 p.m., and is repeated the next morning It is produced by Watermelon Media & Communications Ltd.


Aspiring song-writers still have the chance to cut it fine and pen their entry for the Malta International TV Song Festival. Submissions are to be handed in on September 1, between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. One TV will be broadcasting this festival on Sundays at 5.45 p.m., commencing on October 7. The finals, in December, will be graced by the presence of several foreign singers.

Deo Grech will host the show with a female presenter whose name is still under wraps, for reasons best known to the organisers. Further information, including a set of rules, may be obtained from info@arts-dm.com.


Media-related joke of the week features California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of the mourners at the Church of the Good Shepherd, together with a veritable Who's Who list including his wife Maria Shriver Kennedy, Dick Van Dyke, former First Lady Nancy Reagan, and Alex Trebek.

In a eulogy he gave for Merv Griffin, Schwarzenegger said: "I can say today I wouldn't have gone as far in my career if it wouldn't have been for Merv Griffin," (who invited him as a guest several times on his show).

"He had me on many times, and I was on his show to teach him about fitness and he would be teaching me about acting. Well, neither worked!"

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