|
The favourite television programme of respondents in MaltaToday’s media survey is NET TV’s prison drama Santa Monika, which has overtaken Xarabank, crowned as the favourite TV programme in previous surveys. PBS has retained its position as the overall favourite TV station but Calypso Radio, a station recently bought by construction magnate Charles Polidano, has overtaken Super One Radio as Malta’s favourite radio according to MaltaToday’s first media survey.
The survey shows that national TV station PBS is more favoured by those intending to vote for the PN than by those intending to vote for the MLP. It also emerges that although Super One Radio is far more popular than 101, it hits rock bottom among undecided respondents.
Santa Monika, a prison drama filmed in the old prison at Kordin, has beaten PBS flagship Xarabank and tearjerker Tista Tkun Int on PBS into second and third place, respectively.
While 10.7 per cent said that Santa Monika is their favourite programme, 8.7 per cent opted for Xarabank. Only 6.3 per cent have opted for Tista Tkun Int. The fourth favourite programme is the eight ‘o’ clock news on PBS, followed by Canale 5’s reality TV show Grande Fratello, with four per cent of preference.
Only 1.3 per cent mentioned its Maltese ‘counterpart’, l-Ispjun, as their favourite programme.
With the exception of Xarabank, TV discussion programmes do not place among the top five favourite programmes. Bondiplus is the only other TV programme making it to the top 10 with a sheer 1.7 per cent of respondents.
Judging from the results of the survey no TV programme has an overwhelming following and audiences are very fragmented. In fact, a grand total of 78 programmes ranging from La7’s highbrow talk show L’Infidele to teleshopping on Smash TV were mentioned.
PBS has confirmed its position as the favourite TV station, followed by Super One TV. NET TV is beaten to the third place by Canale 5, which is the favourite of a tenth of respondents.
The MaltaToday survey shows that little has changed in the TV audience market since the last published continuous audience survey conducted by the Broadcasting Authority for the April to June period, when PBS topped at 20.6 of preferences and Super One trailed at 16.7 per cent.
A third of respondents in MaltaToday’s survey have opted for a foreign TV station. The Mediaset triumvirate, clearly emerges as the most popular foreign network in Malta. Grouped together, Berlusconi’s media empire surpasses all Maltese TV stations except PBS. The most popular TV stations on cable are BBC World and Discovery Channel with three per cent respectively.
More Nationalists opt for PBS
PBS is more popular with those opting for the Nationalist party than among those most likely to vote for the Labour Party. While 19.7 per cent of Nationalists opt for PBS as their favourite channel, only 11.5 per cent of Labourites opt for the national TV station, a possible indication that PBS is less trusted by Labourites, undermining its credentials as a national TV station.
Super One has a greater hold among Labour supporters than NET has on Nationalist supporters. While 42.3 of those opting for the MLP mention Super One TV as their favourite, only 23.7 per cent of those opting for the PN mention NET as their favourite.
As regards foreign TV stations, while Nationalists opt for RAI, Labourites tend to opt for Berlusconi’s channels.
11.8 per cent of Nationalists opt for the Italian national TV stations, whilst only 2.6 of Labourites do likewise. On the other hand, while 21.2 of Labourites choose Mediaset channels, only 16 per cent of Nationalists do likewise.
Orphaned of a TV station, AD supporters tend to go for PBS and BBC World.
PBS has a greater hold among respondents who have not decided on how to vote in a forthcoming election. 28.2 per cent of undecided respondents choose PBS, underlining the national TV’s strategic role in the political minefield.
Calypso Radio, owned by construction magnate Charles ‘Caqnu’ Polidano, has overtaken Super One as Malta’s favourite radio station. In the last Broadcasting Authority surveys, Super One radio was on top with 18.3 per cent of preferences.
Super One is still far ahead of Nationalist radio 101, which trails in seventh place with a sheer 6.7 per cent of preferences. Super One also overtakes state radio Radju Malta, which is also overtaken by the second most popular commercial radio.
The two major religiously-oriented radios, the more sober and newsy RTK, and the more devout Radju Marija, closely trail behind Radju Malta.
Labourites more loyal to party radio
Radio Super One has a greater hold on Labour voters than Radio 101 has on Nationalist voters, but it hits rock bottom amongst undecided respondents.
While 43.9 per cent of those intending to vote Labour in a forthcoming election opt for Super One Radio, only 19.7 per cent of those intending to vote Nationalist opt for their party’s radio station. On the other hand the state radio, like its TV counterpart, gets more preferences in the Nationalist camp than in the Labour camp.
It also emerges that religiously-oriented radios have a greater hold over Nationalist voters. While a third of Nationalist voters opt for RTK or Radju Marija, only 12 per cent of Labourites opt for the religious channels.
Commercial radios predominate among those intending not to vote and among the undecided. Party stations fare badly in this category. None of those intending not to vote mentioned Radio 101 as their favourite. Super One is only preferred by 4.5 per cent among this category of voters. On the other hand among the undecided, 101 is favoured by 3.5 per cent, a little more than Super One which is the least preferred radio station among this category.
Methodological Note
Respondents were asked to state their favourite programme on TV. They were also asked to state their favourite radio and TV stations respectively. Respondents were also asked to state their voting intentions if an election is held tomorrow. A total of 456 respondents were randomly selected from the telephone directory. 300 of these respondents accepted to participate in the survey. This survey has a margin of error of +/- 5.7 per cent. The survey was conducted between Monday 23 January and Thursday 26 January.
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
Links:
http://www.ba-malta.org/
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2006/02/05/t10.html
|
