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James Debono
It is tear-jerker Tista’ Tkun Int that emerges as the ‘most watched’ programme during the entire week, after its repeat audience on Sunday is added to its Thursday prime showing – a reminder that misery can still be a source of mass entertainment.
Xarabank’s cocktail mix of genres has earned it the highest audience on any single day during the week, the results of three different surveys held between January and May 2006 confirm.
The three surveys were conducted by Media Warehouse, Ernst and Young, and Research Bureau. The Ernst and Young survey was commissioned by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, whose portfolio includes the editorial board of the Public Broadcasting Services. Ernst and Young won the bid after offering this service free of any administrative charge to government.
A significant part of the audience however said it cannot even mention ‘two high-quality Maltese programmes’ – 23 per cent according to Ernst and Young, and 38 per cent according to Research Bureau.
The three surveys so far offer the only available yardstick that measures the popularity of TV programmes since the Broadcasting Authority has not yet conducted its annual survey, to be held some time later this year.
In the absence of the Broadcasting Authority survey television stations, producers and advertisers have to rely on the three surveys.
Ernst and Young subcontracted the actual making of the telephone calls to “a firm of their trust.” But the Ministry for Tourism and Culture would not reveal the name of the subcontractor, instead giving an assurance that the subcontractor was not involved in TV productions.
Xarabank on top
The three surveys concur that Xarabank, with a peak audience varying between 119,000 and 171,000, has the largest audience on any one single day during the week.
The three surveys also said Tista’ Tkun Int, aired on Thursday and repeated on Sunday, has the highest combined audience, varying between 140,000 in the Ernst and Young survey, and an astronomic 212,750 in the Research Bureau survey.
Xarabank, which markets itself as a Friday live programme manages just an audience of 13,000-16,000 for its Sunday repeat. Tista’ Tkun Int’s Sunday repeat clinches between 34,000 to 73,000 viewers.
Curiously, Xarabank does not even register any audience on Sunday according to the Research Bureau survey.
Yet despite the mammoth ratings of the two big titans of Maltese TV, the three surveys also show that a significant category of people are unsatisfied with the current state of broadcasting.
According to the Research Bureau survey held in April, 19.2 per cent could not mention one favourite programme, while 50.5 per cent did not have a favourite TV presenter.
The Ernst and Young survey shows that 23 per cent could not mention ‘two high quality programmes’ on Maltese TV - among the AB socio-economic group which includes people in the professions, the percentage rises to 35 per cent. Of the respondents, 17 per cent could not mention one single high quality Maltese programme.
Varying ratings
Variations also exist for the choice of favourite TV presenters. Xarabank’s Peppi Azzopardi emerges as favourite presenter in the Media Warehouse survey for 16.6 per cent of preferences. Tista’ Tkun Int’s Rachel Vella trails closely at 16.2 per cent and mainstay Eileen Montesin comes in at 12 per cent.
The Research Bureau survey on the other hand, held just a month before, puts Rachel Vella on top at 8.9 per cent, followed by PBS daytime presenter Ray Calleja at 7.6 per cent and then Peppi Azzopardi at 5 per cent.
Even when it comes to identifying Malta’s favourite programme the three surveys give different results.
The Research Bureau ranked the 8 ‘o’ clock news first among ‘most favourite programmes’ with 14.4 per cent, followed by Tista’ Tkun Int (14%) and Xarabank (11%).
Media Warehouse said 31.7 per cent ranked Xarabank highest, while Tista’ Tkun Int followed at 13.7 per cent.
Both Ernst and Young and Research Bureau asked respondents to mention two high quality programmes. In both cases Xarabank won the day with very different margins – 31 per cent in the Ernst and Young survey, where it was followed by Tista’ Tkun Int (20%) and drama Santa Monika (15%).
Research Bureau ranked Xarabank first with 28 per cent of preferences, with Tista’ Tkun Int trailing at 27 per cent.
A MaltaToday survey held in January 2006 had ranked Santa Monika on top at 10.7 per cent followed, followed by Xarabank (8.7%) and Tista’ Tkun Int (6.3%). Only respondents aged over 18 were interviewed in the MaltaToday survey, allowing respondents to mention foreign programmes.
Other shows
Several discrepancies also emerge when compares the rating of other programmes. Saturday evening’s Show Time, presented by Moira Delia, registered a 104,000-peak audience according to Ernst and Young.
In the Research Bureau and Media Warehouse surveys however, it only registered 52,000 and 71,000 audience ratings respectively.
The satirical Il-Kotra Qamet f’Daqqa, produced by Xarabank creators Where’s Everybody?, peaked at 70,000 according to Ernst and Young. It registered a greatly varying audience of 33,000 and 7,509 according to Media Warehouse and Research Bureau respectively.
Co-partner in the Where’s Everybody production house Lou Bondì reaches a peak audience of 101,000 according to Media Warehouse, and 106,000 in the Ernst and Young survey. Research Bureau however claims Bondiplus manages just 50,000 with most viewers opting for Tuesday evening football on the particular day the survey was held.
The timing of each survey could have had great impact on results. While Bondiplus was penalised by football in the Research Bureau survey, partner Peppi Azzopardi was lucky enough to have one of the most controversial programmes on the day of the Ernst and Young survey: a highly-charged programme on sexual abuse which featured singer Ludwig, of Eurovision fame, claiming he would “parade paedophiles up and down Republic Street and back into them with a car.”
And yet Xarabank managed to score better in the other two surveys held on days when less controversial subjects were discussed.
But discrepancies between the three surveys could also be attributed to the difference in sample size and margins of error. The survey commissioned by the government and carried out by Ernst and Young interviewed a total of 1,050 respondents. The other two surveys had lower samples of 504 and 630 respondents.
With the Broadcasting Authority legally bound to conduct a study on audiences every year, there will be more to follow very soon. According to an authority spokesperson, this year’s survey is still being finalised and will be announced in a forthcoming press conference. “The results of this year’s survey will be included in the Broadcasting Authority 2006 Annual Report,” the spokesperson said.
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
Links: www.maltatoday.com.mt/2006/02/12/t3.html
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