Why watch local TV?

The state of broadcasting needs the immediate attention of all stakeholders. The television medium in this country is in dire need of an overhaul to ensure qualitative broadcasting that truly respects the intelligence of the viewers.

It is common knowledge that the majority of our population prefer to watch foreign productions via digital cable or satellite transmissions any time during the day. Few are the local productions, and not the stations as such, that attract the majority of viewers to stay tuned to local stations.

According to the latest surveys, the most popular programme on local television has a viewership of about 100,000. That indicates that 75 per cent of our population simply do not even watch a two-hour live show that is aired once a week. This state of affairs speaks volumes. It shows the piteous situation our televised broadcasting is going through.

Pluralism should have erased the impact of polarisation brought about by the broadcasting monopoly we were used to in the past and it should have created a climate of healthy competition in this sector but, strange as it might be, we are experiencing the reverse effect. Local television viewership is on the decline and, unfortunately, at a fast pace. Consequently, the feasibility of allocating advertising and sponsorship budgets for television has been seriously questioned. Discerning advertisers have chosen other mediums, such as lifestyle magazines, to promote their products and services. They had no other choice. But that also meant a heavy blow to the financial resources of our television stations.

Most television stations, including the national one, are operating in a straight jacket. The leading ones manage to survive due to their reliance on the political party they belong to. The other stations are sailing on their own steam but not without financial problems.

To make matters worse, the television stations owned by the political parties are more concerned with their political agenda. Even when it comes to entertainment programmes there is always a touch of partisanship either through humour, commentary or satire. Their news bulletins and current affairs talk shows are the best means to keep the party alive and kicking among the electorate. There is no consideration for real news value, fair comment or objective opinion. In a nutshell, the political stations have injected more polarisation, to the extent that the Broadcasting Authority as it is constituted now has no effective control to ensure what is termed as "balanced broadcasting across the board".

It is a known fact that the media today has become a power force in its own right - perhaps even more powerful than political organisations - but that should not allow political parties to play a dominant role in the running and regulatory functions of broadcasting.

In our case, the political parties can not only influence the market through their direct input - as owners and operators of their television stations - but they could also "decide" as broadcasting regulators once they are represented on the board of the Broadcasting Authority.

In my view, the composition of the Broadcasting Authority board should not include representatives or persons nominated by the major political parties.

The presence of "party loyalists" at this level is not healthy even when the nominated representatives are persons of high integrity, competence and experienced in the broadcasting sphere.

But is it the Broadcasting Authority that is deterring viewers from watching local stations? Not really. The cause of the current crisis in TV viewership stems from the lack of or mismanagement of the station's financial resources, the policy adopted by the stations to opt for recycled programmes in both format and repeated transmission and the poor quality in most of the productions.

Unless all stakeholders in local broadcasting put their heads together and come up with a quality charter that would be binding and enforceable there is little hope of attracting more televiewers. The ideas are not missing; the talents are there... let us go for quality TV!

manuelmicallef@onvol.net