For those of us who hate both money and numbers - and yes, we do exist - this week has been an appalling one.

We have been told that the Budget is superlatively good. We have also been told that it is atrociously bad. On average then, it ought to be passable.

And inevitably, this is not the only area where number-crunching and juggling has been taking place this week. For each time some company produces statistics that assume to tell us what people watch, all those who are mentioned - or not - find ways to flaunt or justify this, as the case may be. The demographics and logistics behind the lists are gone over with a fine-tooth comb.

Some members of the public try to tune in to the stations, or specific programmes, that would have garnered the better placings, and the highest number of viewers or listeners - only to be disappointed.

I never cease to wonder about whether the only reason surveys are carried out is to influence advertisers to put their money where the audience ostensibly is.

Statistics always have a margin of error - and that's not counting the people who lie because they don't want the statistics for the 'other side' to show any improvement. Indeed, not many producers or presenters will tell you they watch or listen to stations different from those where they work; yet sometimes they give themselves away inadvertently. On a similar note, it would be interesting to know whether the personalities who endorse certain products or services in advertisements actually use them.

• Culture Minister Dolores Cristina, under whose aegis the Malta Film Fund project falls, recently announced that four productions will benefit from sponsorship, namely: Hamlet of Straight Street (a short film by Lighthouse Communications); Dear Dom (a documentary by Falkun Film Productions); The Simshar Tragedy (a documentary by Where's Everybody); and Reefs for the Future (a documentary by MPS Picture Box).

These were selected from a total of 15 applications from as many local entities; the cost of producing all of them would have surpassed €600,000. The panel of four experts making the evaluations was made up of Fr Joe Borg, Agnes Havas, Brian Winston and Gloria Lauri-Lucente.

The objectives of the Malta Film Fund, involving €223,000, include creating opportunities that would further develop the local audio-visual industry, while at the same time supporting local production houses and emerging talent. The Kunsill Malti għall-Kultura u l-Arti, the Malta Film Commission, the EU Media Desk, and obviously, the Cultural and Audio-Visual Unit within the ministry, are all involved in this laudable project. It is refreshing to note that a critique and discussion session will be available to those who did not make the cut. The call for applications for the Malta Film Fund 2009 has just gone out.

The deadline for applications is March 1, 2010, and the results will be announced at the end of April.

There will be a colloquium about the application process, the date of which will be announced early next month. The guidelines, application forms and further information may be found at www.maltafilmfund.gov.mt.

• Meanwhile, One Television has confirmed that the UKAM-approved third edition of the Malta Hit Song Contest will go ahead as scheduled. It will go on air from January 10.

There is a proviso that this contest is open to all songwriters and singers who would be in possession of Maltese citizenship or dual citizenship by the song contest's submission date.

It is important to note that whereas there is no limit on how many entries each songwriter and singer can submit, from the televised promotional phase onwards, the 'one singer, one song' rule applies. For further information visit www.ogaemalta.com.

• Is it my imagination, or are local disc jockeys and programme presenters playing more records - either in their entirety or in snatches between different sections of a programme, or as background music - after the ruckus rightfully kicked up by UIKAM, to which I had referred some columns ago?

How many radio and television stations actually hand out forms to each presenter to be filled in after each programme so that Performing Rights may go to whoever deserves them? Why is it that getting information about this and other things from PBS is proving to be so hard?

• It appears to have become fashionable to trash Where's Everybody either collectively, or by targeting presenters separately. I wish people would sign their articles and letters, and if they do use a name, I wish they would use their own and not borrow someone else's innocuous one.

This line of reasoning, of course, only holds water because I do it myself, since I have no hidden agendas or friends of friends.

• The award for Understatement of the Month goes to one particular sportscaster. Reporting on the funeral of Hannover's Robert Enke, he said "wara dik l-ahbar kemmxejn negattiva..." [following that somewhat sad news...].

television@timesofmalta.com