The relative quiet of our street was broken last Wednesday evening by the wailing sirens of police cars in connection with the attempted hold-up at the HSBC Centre at Qormi.

Timesofmalta.com picked up the story immediately - but anyone tuning in to Radju Malta for breaking news, or at least an item in the first news bulletin following the event, could easily have thought the cars and then the helicopter were connected with the State visit of Italian president Giorgio Napolitano, since nothing was said about it.

News bulletins, of course, depend wholly upon whosoever compiles them. It is a pity that the person who included the (subsequently denied) item about necrophilia did not research the topic further; for, in truth, such a case did happen, albeit in a different country, with different details.

I asked Favourite Channel whether they had issued a retraction, since I might have missed it, but no reply was forthcoming up to the time of writing.

• The good news is that Melita gave up exclusivity on World Cup quarter-final matches. During the Parliamentary Social Affairs Committee, the company finally conceded it was "in the interests of consumers" for it to give up its first pick on World Cup quarter-final matches so that all four matches could be broadcast on PBS.

It bears reminding that in terms of an agreement with PBS, Melita had the right to reserve one match to broadcast exclusively on Melita Sports, just as it had the exclusivity for the England-Germany match, which it forbore to relinquish for reasons best known to itself.

In a nutshell, English supporters had been treated shabbily when they discovered that, despite being promised they would be able to do so, they could not watch 'their' team play Germany, since this was precluded by the exclusivity clause entitling only subscribers of Melita Sports Channel to watch 16 games, of which this was one.

Melita described the above-mentioned bumph as "unfortunate"; should we put it down to the slapdash way in which most of the commentators approached their job, or was this an administrative error based on a calculated risk?

PBS Acting CEO Natalino Fenech once again pleaded corporate poverty, saying the Malta-specific deal had been struck with Melita to alleviate the burden on the 'station of the nation'. He explained that Melita made its choice after the teams were known, and that the new agreement was subject to approval by the European Broadcast Union.

Fenech reiterated that had PBS not found a buyer for those 16 games it farmed out, it would not have been able to afford to pay for the rights to air any games at all.

Somewhat illogically, he pointed out that BBC was showing 12 games, and Rai was showing 22, whereas PBS was showing a total of 46. But that is not the point at all; some viewers could cheerfully forego a game between teams they did not like.

MP David Agius, ever the voice of reason, reiterated that no football aficionado should be barred by this type of negotiating from watching any match in which England and Italy played, irrespective of whom they played against, since these two nations command the greatest two local fan-bases.

I wonder what the EBU thinks about monopolies and exclusivity clauses - in everything, not merely in a World Cup series that happens every four years. At this rate, some enterprising businessman is going to set up a big screen somewhere, and sell season tickets to clients, having reached a private deal with whoever has the international rights for whatever sports tournament is on, provided enough people subscribe to it. Tennis, anyone?

• Meanwhile, back in the real world, the production company behind Lilliput will be taking a different tack this year, although the emphasis of the next series remains making learning fun for children.

Lilliput Lunchbox intends to take a 'stream of consciousness' look at the nutritious foods that ought to be in the eponymous lunchbox, rather than today's ubiquitous cereal bars and additive-laden drinks that are erroneously touted as healthy fare.

Honey, for instance, takes us to Winnie the Pooh, and then to teddy bears in general, while apples recall William Tell and Snow White, to name but two examples. Joining the team will be a nutritionist who will combine the day's topic with fun exercises.

• Soap operas, situation comedies, and dramas have been set anywhere and everywhere, including on the football pitches. And sometimes what would have been a series ends up being a film, because there is not enough material for one.

Love Ranch is based on the real-life story of Nevada's first legally licensed brothel, Mustang Ranch, run by Joe and Sally Conforte. Leads are Charlie Bontempo (Joe Pesci) and his wife, Grace (Helen Mirren).

There's the usual eclectic mix of vice, adultery and other types of fornication, and untimely deaths due to murder or illness. Think Dallas and Dynasty, without the bells on, but with plenty of violence, nudity, and obscenity to compensate for this.

• It is being wildly rumoured that rather than hanging up his braces, Larry King is cataloguing them according to his intention of bequeathing them to Lou Bondi.

The man is bowing out of his nightly show, perhaps because of dwindling audiences, perhaps because he feels it's time for a sabbatical. He will, however, continue to do periodic specials for the network, presumably with the blessing of his seventh wife.

television@timesofmalta.com