For some weeks now I have been following Il-Mediterran; Ħajjiet Tal-Bieraħ, Ħajjiet tal-Lum (The Mediterranean; Lives of Yesterday, Lives of Today), on Radju Malta (Wednesday afternoons).
The BA cannot rule on whether service providers broadcast illegally or not- Tanja Cilia
I was hoping the snafus would be ironed out as it went along, but nothing has improved.
The series is very interesting. But either to add interest or to fill up airtime, the original recording – in French, in the background, complete with traditional music – is sometimes so loud it spoils the vernacular translation.
Snatches of the original recording are sometimes played loud – probably so that we can check whether the translation is faithful to it.
The translation, by the by, forgoes words such as ‘trendy’ and ‘snob’... in the snobby trend that treats Maltese as an also-ran. This last fortnight, for instance, we have had ‘kundizzjonijiet klimatiċi li kienu jipprevalu’ and ‘Afrikani suwed’ and many more such inane expressions.
Besides, there still seems to be perennial confusion reigning about pairs of words such as sieq/riġel; id/driegħ; ħin/żmien; temp/ klima, and so forth. Family matters are thrashed in futur qarib, and the use of familjari to indicate the genial atmosphere obtaining in a diner, the relatives of a deceased person, and the word’s proper meaning.
• The idea was to turn E22 into TVM2 some time back in April. This has not happened, and it could well be that we have to wait until January 2012 for the change.
Be that as it may, there appears to be a leaning towards moving edutainment to the second channel.
A case in point is Waltzing Matilda, presented by one of Malta’s broadcasting stalwarts, Josephine Zammit Cordina. Just for the record, the first edition of this programme was transmitted on July 28, 1994.
As from October 3, broadcasts will be as follows: every fortnight there will be three screenings of the programme at 2.30 p.m., 7 p.m. and 11.55 p.m., and there will be another repeat on Sundays at noon.
I am told there will be many more changes to be announced in the next week or so, because alterations to the current schedule for Radju Malta are still taking place as I write.
One of my all-time favourite programmes, which is miles better than many others I could mention, has been taken off air.
Nisġa is more of a compendium than a compilation. Bringing together the voices of a host of veteran broadcasters – Marselle Delicata, Ġorġ Peresso, Anton Grasso, Charles Abela Mizzi and many others, this programme has been, for the past two years, bringing together well-researched information about our heritage and culture in a brilliant way.
Topics covered are our language, buildings, traditions, arts and crafts, celebrities and historical people, legends, flora and fauna... Ironically, the programmes we are listening to now are repeats, but are still worth listening to – so why has a further series not been commissioned?
• The wraps have finally been removed from around the ‘all-new’ concept TVAM show. Pierre Portelli and Joe Mifsud will be co-presenting the breakfast programme with Daphne Cassar. Ah, so that is why...
TVM’s Sunday morning prime time show will be the new, improved Malta u lil ’hinn Minnha, a production by CVC Media. The press release indicates that this will be an audio-visual version of the aforementioned Nisġa, with bells on.
So I cannot help wondering why the former was pulled and the latter accepted, seeing that radio still remains many people’s favourite medium . And, unlike television, we can take it with us wherever we go.
Be that as it may, Malta u lil ’hinn Minnha will highlight all that is Maltese, covering the same topics as the aforementioned, but taking a closer look at the primary industries of farming and fishing.
Both occupations make full use of our natural resources, as well as the ever-increasing importance being given to agro-tourism and fish-farming. Since we are an island, it makes sense to develop what we have rather than hanker after what we don’t – that is why Blue Flag beaches ought to be part of our branding.
• It used to be the case that when there was a monopoly for something, the sole agent used to put on airs and graces because people could not purchase the goods or services offered by him from elsewhere. With the advent of a free market, suspicions of cartels were often put to rest by declarations and other assorted documents.
After hemming and hawing for eight months over the issue, and despite the change of name and wider portfolio from the Consumer Affairs Department, the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority tells us that, after all, it is not within its remit to decide whether Go and Melita had been transmitting Living TV and Comedy Central channels illegally.
The august Malta Communications Authority followed suit to tell us it has no jurisdiction over the regulation of content or copyright matters. Since this falls outside its area of responsibility, therefore, those members of the public who rightly feel they have been taken for a ride will have to seek redress elsewhere.
Is this a case for a Class Act in the law courts? The police would be bound to ‘investigate’ if the injured parties filed reports, since there was no provision for the police to take ex-officio best of judgement action
The Broadcasting Authority comes down like the proverbial tonne of bricks on programmes that contain minutes of advertising over the amount of content stipulated at law, or otherwise fly in the face of the book. And yet – it cannot rule on whether service providers broadcast illegally or not.
This when the term ‘illegally’ itself was used by the spokesman for Living TV Group, when he said Living is a channel licensed in and meant for the UK and Republic and Ireland.
television@timesofmalta.com