Telethons and other fundraising activities usually see a get-together of media personalities, some of whom would obviously be more concerned with one-upmanship than assisting the charitable trust organising the event.

It was a breath of fresh air, therefore, to listen to the interaction during Drive-Time (Radju Malta) of Joe Tanti and a Who's Who guest list - Ray Bajada, Albert Zammit, Alfie Fabri, Carlo Borg Bonaci, Albert Galdes, Brian Micallef, Noel Mallia, Charles Saliba, John Bundy, Twanny Scerri and Toni Sant - on different days.

It almost didn't matter that some of the aforementioned personalities were in the studio and some platter chatter took on a totally different meaning last week, and it was nice listening to them reminisce about 'radio then' and 'radio now'.

I am sure most listeners of the 'station of the nation' hope this scoop will develop into something bigger and better come Christmastide.

• The only focus reference worth anything is one that doesn't move.

This is one of the first things we are taught in crash media education courses - and to judge by the fidgety stances of most radio and television presenters, rare is the person whom we can be our centre of attraction.

We have the female presenter who waves a ballpoint pen about as she introduces the topic and her guests; we have the male newscaster who shifts in his chair each time he has to pronounce an English word (die-voice being his latest blooper); we have the sportscasters who decided to add the Maltese word for 'trouble' to Uruguay and spell it 'Urugwaj'.

Not be left out, one of the educators on E22 says her numbers in English, during a Mathematics lesson in Maltese, while her colleague tells us that he would "nibbubbilja dal-gas fil-water". Last, but definitely not least, is the presenter who leaves the windows open during her programme, so that we may gauge her love for animals by listening to a (late) Dawn Chorus.

The BBC has managed to shake this syndrome off, by the simple ruse of airing repetitions of the same programmes - on the morrow of the day they are first broadcast, give or take the odd half hour. They have gone one better than local stations, which at least stagger the times of repeats, as well as leaving at least 48 hours between two showings of the same item.

However, the BBC cannot boast of peppering its in-house programmes with a massacred vernacular, unless it is meant to be some kind of dialect or as spoken by a foreigner or an alien in a radio play.

The BBC, of course, is guilty of another blooper that would never happen in Malta. The corporation is currently moving hundreds of staff members, at a cost of thousands of pounds, out of the spanking new studios that had been built - but not tested for health and safety when it comes to lifts, fire alarms, and lighting.

Just for the record, this renovation has gone £20 million over its original budget of £813 million, and is running at least two years late.

At this point, it would be wise to remind oneself that comparisons are odious, and that people who complain about shifty chairs and wonky tables know that they, at least, have a cheque coming to them at the end of the month.

• We have had our fill of ad-lib translations from Italian commentaries during this World Cup tournament. But, as usual, disc jockeys and presenters continue trying to fill what would otherwise be dead air with banalities such as "Illum l-Erbgħa is-seba' jum tax- xahar ta' Lulju", and "Il-lejla f'Għawdex jissokta għaddej il-Festival..." Do these people think this verbosity is going to impress us?

Incidentally, I find it in extremely bad taste that a commentator uses the "with all due respect" platitude before saying something as atrocious as the umbrella comment about football's teams from a particular continent.

• I never cease to be amused at the transparent agendas behind certain news items in different bulletins.

The other day, One Radio kept referring to MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando as JPO, or, alternatively, Jeffrey Pullicino. These people must have been swotting up on 'brand awareness'. Therefore, they made hay of the Private Member's Bill, and the reactions of the Archbishop and the Prime Minister, but remained cheerfully hazy with regard to the author of the stink-bomb.

Then we have the docu-drama of whether or not medications are available or out-of-stock, and whether or not they have decreased in price. Incidentally, is it not ironic that existing stocks of medications are to be sold at the going price before it being lowered for new stocks, whereas the price-jump for gas cylinders was immediate?

• I am informed, with regard to the alleged case of necrophilia, that Favourite Channel did indeed air a follow-up counter-statement to the carefully-worded one issued by Mater Dei Hospital administration.

A part of the transcript of this reiterates the above, and goes on to state, however, that the station is in possession of data indicating the name of the alleged abuser, his current place of residence, and other details that would easily identify him, namely his last place of work and what led to the alleged deed being discovered, and certain dates that would eliminate all doubt about whether this sordid affair really happened or not.

• The Man from UNCLE, another television series of my youth that had an American and a Russian working together to fight an evil agency during the Cold War, is set to hit the big screen. I wonder whether the premise would work - unless it was re-worked.

television@timesofmalta.com