National broadcaster TVM will broadcast 46 live World Cup matches with Maltese commentary while Melita will air all 64 matches in standard and high definition with English commentary, the companies said in a joint statement this week.

Melita won a competitive bid issued by Public Broadcasting Services Ltd for television rights to broadcast all the matches of the South Africa tournament.

It is currently negotiating Italian commentary for the Italy games.

PBS and Melita said their agreement marked a number of firsts: It is the first time that Maltese football fans can watch all 2010 FIFA World Cup matches in HD on a dedicated Melita Sports channel. Throughout the tournament, the channel will be branded as TVM HD.

It is the first time Malta's national TV station is broadcasting 46 World Cup matches, making it one of few national stations in Europe to carry such extensive World Cup coverage for free. TVM will broadcast more than double the matches expected to be broadcast by RAI.

This arrangement was made possible after PBS engaged in negotiations with the European Broadcasting Union to obtain television rights at reduced prices for small territories like Malta.

Meanwhile, TVM and Melita will broadcast a number of special programmes focusing on World Cup action and PBS is providing special training for its sports commentators led by Italian professionals.

High definition channels, including Discovery Channel HD, National Geographic HD, and sports content in HD will be available on Melita from June ahead of the World Cup.

Testing on Melita's HD platform began in 2007. Concurrently with HD, Melita plans to launch PVR set top boxes which enable viewers to pause, rewind and record live television, hard disk space, inputs for external devices, and a new electronic programming guide.