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Last Thursday saw the launch of Broadcasting Studies; Maltese Broadcast Consumer Profile: An Analytical Assessment 1999-2006.

Written and compiled by Mario Axiak, head of research and communications at the Broadcasting Authority and deputy editor of the Broadcasting Studies Series, the book attempts to make sense of all the number-crunching that goes on across the board, whenever any kind of audience surveys are published.

The accumulation and amalgamation of numbers and statistics brings me out in hives - yet here they are presented in a coherent manner that facilitates comment, and also puts paid to the habit of different media to bias data in their own favour.

However, since the last year under review is 2006, things might have changed slightly, so one has to take that into account too.

What appears to hold true, however, is the fact that election fever is responsible for more television-watching of politics-centred programming in the run-up to and after the conclusion of the polls. At the time the statistics were compiled, Mr Axiak said, the trend was for the head of the family (in this case, the person with the most authority) to decide what would be watched.

I would say the same thing happened then during football seasons; however, with the advent of multiple television sets, and streamed television from PCs, these days, the picture (no pun intended) might have changed somewhat.

When community radio stations were about to be introduced, the mainstream were somewhat wary of them, thinking they would poach their audiences (and also, as a corollary, advertising revenue). This has not happened, for only a tenth of the population listens to these stations.

However, there was no provision made for the fact that people, including myself, would listen to these radio stations - if they were available. These days, their broadcasting scope is limited by power; it remains, however, practically the same as the 2.5 km range it was when area was the determining factor for their compass.

These days, moreover, there is the phenomenon of customised media - we record things to watch later, and we have a whole array of stations at our fingertips should we so desire. So the "entertainment, information, education" tripod that one expected from television and radio programming is no longer such a major issue.

Meanwhile, statistics I picked up from the foreign press indicate that media groups are often judged on staff deployment, as well as by programme content that does not involve overrunning aversion by seconds, or subliminal advertising.

One other point Axiak raised concerns the popularity of any type of reality show.

On foreign stations, we have seen Muslim children faultlessly reciting reams upon reams of the Koran; another where young men had to decide between the priesthood and marriage; another was a boot-camp for obese children, and anything else that has even a remote chance of attracting viewers for the production house offering it.

In Malta the picture was somewhat more staid - and One Television even turned Sitta Ġewwa into a fundraising activity murdering two swallows but not making it a summer of discontent.

Speaking of summer - this is the time when a few hardy people produce new programmes - and also, sadly, a time when certain stations seek to save on expenses by regurgitating past series, or perhaps going one step further and airing "the best of" compendiums.

Last year, Radju Malta switched Ċama Ċama, the programme meant for the young at heart, to just after 9 a.m. from its afternoon slot "because school is out". After some discussion, it was decided to have a repeat. This year, a repeat is not being broadcast - and this means that children are being forced to choose between their tailor-made activity at their parish or their summer group, and the best children's radio programme.

There was a time when people who could not understand Italian tuned in to Dallas and Dynasty for the clothes and interior décor; these days, according to Axiak, some turn to reality shows to emulate the behaviour of the contestants. Which is a rather pathetic vicious circle, considering that the 15 minutes of fame of the contestants sometimes leads them to think that they are, in fact, themselves film stars.

The upshot of all this, however, was that the Broadcasting Authority is just a regulator. It can, therefore, only fine stations and production houses for not sticking to the rules and regulations, not hold the badly-needed Media Education courses in its own right.

They cannot even come up with their equivalent of a 'swear-box' when people who are found guilty of mangling Maltese (or even proper nouns) are fined for doing so. This week, Ingrid Betancourt had to endure a few more mill-seconds of discomfort because of how her name and surname, FARC, and Operation Jaque were mispronounced, especially by the lady newscaster who has her own phonetic dictionary.

After her detective series Hetty Wainthropp Investigates was axed by the BBC, Patricia Routledge insisted that "the BBC is run by 10-year-olds." There was talk of how the "corporation is obsessed with attracting younger viewers, to the point where if often ignores many of its most loyal older audiences."

Never mind. In most people's minds, Patricia Routledge is Hyacinth Bucket, in Keeping Up Appearances. And this series is being broadcast from today on TVM. The Station of the Nation will also be giving us Miss Marple, starring Geraldine McEwan.

television@timesofmalta.com