Television Malta ( mt, Televixin Malta; TVM) is a terrestrial

television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

operated by the

national broadcaster Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

Public Broadcasting Services Public Broadcasting Services Limited (PBS) is the public broadcaster of Malta. PBS is funded by government grants and the sale of commercial airtime. Its TVM channel is Malta's most watched television channel, and its radio station Magic Malt ...

. Alongside the main TVM network, PBS operates a sister channel TVMNews+ (formerly TVM 2).

History

TVM was launched on 29 September 1962 as the first television service in Malta, although television broadcasts from neighbouring Sicily in far-southern Italy could be received in Malta from as early as 1957. In October 2011, PBS announced another overhaul of the TVM brand, to mark 50 years since the establishment of the Malta Television Service in 2012. The new branding pays homage to previous TVM identities, and makes use of the Maltese cross, which features heavily in the new L-Aħbarijiet

title sequence A title sequence (also called an opening sequence or intro) is the method by which films or television programmes present their title and key production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often a opening theme song with vi ...

. In March 2012, PBS started its trial transmissions on the new sister channel TVM2, which replaced Education 22 (E22). The broadcast time starts at around 15:00 and finishes at around 12:00am. In 2021, PBS started transmissions on the channel TVMNews+ which has replaced TVM2.

Programming

TVM

broadcasts Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began wi ...

a mix of news, sport, entertainment, magazine programming and children's programmes. It is funded through a government

grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom * Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama * Grant, Inyo County, ...

and commercial advertising. The majority of programmes broadcast on TVM are produced externally of PBS. PBS publishes details of the types of programmes it wishes to broadcast on TVM and

production companies A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and vi ...

provide PBS with a detailed report of their proposal for the programme. Most programmes are broadcast in Maltese, however the Maltese speak both Maltese and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

so English also features, mainly in BBC and ITV titles. Sunday evenings are dedicated to classic

British comedy Throughout film, television, and radio, British comedy has become known for its consistently peculiar characters, plots, and settings, and has produced some of the most renowned comedians and characters in the world. History British comedy history ...

, and English language films are shown on Saturday evenings. The English language feed of

Euronews Euronews (styled on-air in lowercase as euronews) is a European television news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. The network began broadcasting on 1 January 1993 and covers world news from a European perspective. The majority of Eurone ...

is also broadcast daily. A new programme schedule was announced, including an increased number of news bulletins and a new current affairs-led breakfast show. For several years including the 2015/2016 period TVM had the highest number of viewers compared to the rest of Maltese television stations put together. Some of the current hits are '' Xarabank'', '' Disset'', ''

Strada Stretta Strada Stretta was a Maltese television series that aired on Television Malta between 2015 and 2017. The first episode was released on September 28, 2015 and from the start it generated a nostalgic feeling among the Maltese. As the name implies t ...

'', ''Skjetti'' and news broadcasting. Statistics show that more than a quarter of the population of Malta watch these on a regular basis.

News

News programming on TVM is the only major network television news not produced by a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

's media apparatus, as the two other major Maltese networks (

One 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

and NET Television) are owned by the Labour and

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

parties respectively. TVM airs ''TVAM'', a

breakfast television Breakfast television (Europe, Canada, and Australia) or morning show (United States) is a type of news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts live in the morning (typically scheduled between 5:00 and 10:00a.m., or if it is a ...

program focused on news and current affairs, weekday mornings from 07:00 to 08:30. TVM's main newscast ''L-aħbarijiet ta' Televixin Malta'' ("The News of Television Malta") is aired weeknights from 20:00 to 20:50, along with short news updates titled ''Aħbarijiet fil-qosor'' ("News in Brief") throughout the day. Since 2012, a nightly newscast in Maltese Sign Language has aired on sister network TVM2. TVM previously carried bulletins in English from

and Britain's ITN.

TVM HD

On 8 March 2012, PBS also started trials of TVM HD, the first HD channel from

. The channel is available to all those who have Melita Netbox or iBox and can be found on channel 110. GO, Melita's main rival in the cable television industry on the Maltese Islands included the channel later in their schedule and also exclusively TVM2 HD.

References

External links

*
About TVM
{{PBS Malta Television stations in Malta Television channels and stations established in 1962 1962 establishments in Malta