TV viewers in the July-September quarter reached the lowest levels since January-March 2007 - 12.704 per cent lower than that in the April-June assessment period and 12.887 per cent lower than in the same period last year.

This was said by the Broadcasting Authority in its Audience Assessment report.

Data for the report was collected by the National Statistics Office.

Of the local broadcasting stations, TVM [26.43 per cent] maintained its prime position throughout increasing the percentage number of viewers over the same broadcasting period of 2011 by 0.45 per cent.

However, it decreased the percentage number of viewers by 9.93 per cent over the April-June period, the largest decrease registered in the number of viewers.

The report, however, singled out TVM2 for its sharp gain over the same period last year and its continued increase over the April-June quarter.

ONE [17.08 per cent] increased its percentage number of viewers by 3.68 per cent over the same period last year and, increased its share by 2.47 per cent over the April-June period.

The largest increase by local TV stations over the previous quarter was registered by Net TV [+3.52 per cent].

When it came to radio, there was a 1.81 per cent drop in the number of listeners over the April-June period and a decrease of 10.53 per cent over the same period last year.

Those who expressly stated that they did not listen to radio [54.432 per cent] exceeded regular radio listeners by 12.616 per cent which was the highest registered since October-December 2006.

Bay Radio maintained the highest percentage of radio listeners [23.48 per cent], increased its share by 1.36 per cent over the April-June period [22.12 per cent], and increased its share by 3.05 per cent over the same period last year.

ONE Radio maintained its second ranking [17.60 per cent] increasing its share by 2.91 per cent over the previous assessment quarter [14.69 per cent] and further increasing its share by 4.60 per cent over the same period last year.

Radju Malta ranked third [9.56 per cent] increasing it share by 1.08 per cent over the April-June period, and increasing its share by 0.94 per cent last year.