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Mark Laurence Zammit Was Never Offered To Present His Show For A Second Season, Production House Insists

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Mark Laurence Zammit’s former production house We Media Ltd has distanced itself from the presenter’s warning against “excessive interference” by PBS into his show.

Following the recent posts on social media regarding our programme L-Erbgħa Fost il-Ġimgħa, the directors of We Media Ltd feel that they should detail the facts,” the production house said today.

It insisted that Zammit was never offered to present L-Erbgħa Fost il-Ġimgħa for a second season and wasn’t involved in the decisions regarding the show.

We Media clarified that it has full control over who gets to present the programme and that PBS didn’t axe L-Erbgħa Fost il-Ġimgħa.

“In fact, the programme was still being considered up to a few weeks ago when Mark Laurence Zammit was already on his notice of termination of employment as a producer with We Media Ltd.”

“The programme L-Erbgħa Fost il-Ġimgħa was not terminated by PBS but by agreement between the executive producer and the national station there was a rebranding of the programme to move to the new station TVMNews+, to be spread across two parts aired on Wednesday and Friday, and to have the name changed to TOPIK.”

As revealed by Lovin Malta yesterday, TOPIK will be presented by Quinton Scerri, who until recently presented the daily discussion show Popolin.

It is expected to focus on current affairs but not be as politically oriented as L-Erbgħa Fost il-Ġimgħa was.

TOPIK will air every Wednesday and Friday on TVMnews+, a new channel which will replace TVM 2 and which will focus on news, sports, current affairs, culture and history programmes, with TVM focusing exclusively on entertainment programmes.

Following the news, Scerri expressed his disappointment that Popolin won’t return for a second season despite its popularity but said he’s looking forward to his next project.

He also insisted TOPIK wasn’t created to replace Mark Laurence Zammit, praising his former colleague for his presenting talents. 

“From the bottom of my heart, I wish Mark all the best for the future in his journalistic career.”

Zammit yesterday said he decided to stop presenting L-Erbgħa Fost il-Ġimgħa due to “excessive interference” by PBS, which he said was hindering his own loyalty towards his audience.

“This is the hardest decision of my life, because [presenting the show] was my greatest life dream. But even the biggest dream can become a nightmare if you can’t live it in peace with your conscience,” he said.

Zammit will now join Times of Malta, with the plan being that he will eventually present an online format of his former show.

However, PBS executive chairman Mark Sammut counter-argued that Zammit may have quit because he felt uncomfortable with the national broadcaster’s rigid regulations.

Do you think reform is necessary within PBS? 

READ NEXT: BREAKING: L-Erbgħa Fost Il-Ġimgħa To Be Replaced With New Show Hosted By Quinton Scerri

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]

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