Whenever I call my internet service provider I am thankful I am using a helpline; otherwise my phone bill would ruin me.

For the same reason, PBS must be glad the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2011 is an in-house affair. If it had to pay for all the bumphs going out on Radio Malta, PBS would have been bankrupt by now.

But despite the fact that hundreds of reminders for the contest are going out before the event, people are not being told whether or not tickets are still available, and, if so, whether they may still be bought. If there are no seats available, the adverts are useless; if there are, it would help if the public is told.

However, the process appears to be more streamlined now, with the songs being presented in a coherent, uniform, constant manner, with the same clips for the same song whenever and wherever it is shown.

Something good appears to be coming out of this, however. Several times I have had cause to complain about the slapdash website of the ‘stations of the nation’ (www.pbs.com.mt).

However, when one goes to the site dedicated to the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2011 (www.maltaeurovision2011.com), one is invited to watch the final 24 songs by clicking a link to another site (www.televisionmalta.com/category/eurovision2011).

I have a hunch that, rather than fix the old site – which would be well-nigh impossible – this is going to be the new basis upon which the new site will be built.

So far, however, nothing has been said officially with regard to this, and searching for http://televisionmalta.com does not yield different results, for the address reverts to the one with the reference to the contest. We shall have to wait and see.

Meanwhile, PBS has announced the running-order for the performances for both concerts. We are promised a breathtaking show for both the semi-final and final nights on February 11 and 12. By now, everyone knows that the Valerie-Keith tandem, which worked so well last year, will once again be acting as comperes for the evening.

This says a lot about what PBS thinks about brand loyalty. Years ago, when he was still at the beginning of his career, I had mooted Frank Zammit for presenter, and most of the media people who were at the social event with me at the time had paused, thought about it, and then thoroughly agreed that he had potential.

Zammit has, of course, gone on to prove me right – he is one of the most popular personalities in the local media these days, because he manages to combine his wit, brilliant liveliness, tonnes of elbow grease, and consummate professionalism in an inimitable way, whatever the occasion.

Alas, the time has passed when the one-from-Net-one-from-One choices were the order of the day.

This ethos, however, is still extant in the choice of the board of the Broadcasting Authority – something that to me is pathetic, ridiculous, and puerile, but understandable for Malta.

The name of the Broadcasting Authority is now being bandied about as the entity that is qualified to do the honours of the Malta Television Awards. Unfortunately, most of the comments I have seen to this effect appear to come from people who do not know, or care, that the whole caboodle stemmed and snowballed from one, simple, clerical mistake.

Those who had a personal interest to do so waited until the next edition was imminent before stoking the embers into a flame, rewriting the history of what had happened according to their bent.

In addition, most of these people are too young to remember that there was actually a time when the Broadcasting Authority actually conducted its own awards.

These had been the brainchild of Antoine Ellul, the BA’s CEO at the time. He had the full backing of the board and the chairman. There used to be an independent jury specifically for each genre of programming, something which was emulated by DJ Burgess.

As the national body that is supposed to be monitoring all radio and television stations around the clock, it ought to have been in the ideal position to continue the event till kingdom come.

Technically, there would be no need for people to present their own nominations, but it is doubtful whether anyone wishing to be considered would not be charged at least a nominal fee. Think ‘reading fees’ for a literary contest – if you don’t like the system, and then don’t enter.

However, there came a time when the BA pleaded lack of funds, since their budget had been reduced – although my guess is this was tinged with apathy, and a dearth of programmes to award that had not been awarded before.

In any case, sponsors were not sought to offset the reduction of state funding, and nobody was prepared to put in tens, if not hundreds, of man-hours to see that the awards continued happening. So the BA awards died the death.

If the BA then had no funds, does it have no economics and budgetary problems now? If the answer is a resounding ‘no’, then it would probably have to farm out the awards to an agency. Whether this would be DJ Burgess, who has so far organised it, or someone else, would be anybody’s guess.

As with all other awards and public events, the general public must be certain that everything is above board – we have heard enough rumours that certain people use others as cats’ paws, giving them financial backing for business ventures.

After all, now that the awards have proved themselves not only viable but also profitable, it is reasonable to assume that some entrepreneurs would want a piece of the action.

television@timesofmalta.com