This means that an independent private TV station which only employs a handful of staff has a stronger following than a competitor which is owned by the state, and which has millions of resources at its disposal.

Meanwhile, TVM is followed by 44.3% of people, foreign stations by 43.6%, Labour’s ONE TV by 22.4% and PN’s NET TV by 12.8%.

Today’s ratings come as a huge blow for the Public Broadcasting Services (PBS), which launched TVMnews+ earlier this year as part of a landmark shake-up in national broadcasting.

While the new channel is focusing mainly on news and current events, including sports, culture and art programmes, TVM is focusing mainly on entertainment. 

To mark the shake-up, PBS also launched a public competition for its new logo, with the winning design one which incorporates the Maltese cross and the ‘play’ symbol.

Broadcasting Minister Carmelo Abela even pledged to allocate €30 million to PBS over a five-year period to produce high-quality content on its channels.

However, it’s clear that the national broadcaster has its work cut out for it if it wants to convince several people to tune in to its new channel.

TVM’s news bulletin remains the most popular programme overall, selected by 9.3% of respondents, while the drama Nostalġija and the music competition X Factor Malta are joint second with 7.3%.

Cover photo: Left: PBS head of news Norma Saliba, Right: F-Living’s Karl and Romina Bonaci 

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