Curtain comes down on Xarabank, for 23 years Malta’s most followed TV programme

The national broadcaster has pulled the curtains on the historic, long-time Friday night talk-show Xarabank.

The news was announced by its presenter and producer, Peppi Azzopardi, who first launched the series in the early 1990s from a University of Malta lecture hall before it became the television behemoth that has hosted all prime ministers and politicians since the 1990s.

Xarabank has been the most followed programme on PBS, and of all television stations, at all times of the week, such was its pull on audiences.

“Xarabank has never been found guilty of imbalance, it has raised millions of euros for charity, it has received numerous awards for investigative journalism and as a discussion programme. I thank the hundreds of team members who played a part, and those thousands who were part of our panels, and all the thousands who followed the show in the last 23 years and made it the most popular discussion programme in the history of Malta,” Azzopardi said on Facebook.

Contacted by MaltaToday, Peppi Azzopardi said that for now he would be keeping any comments on the decision to himself for now.

He did however point out that Xarabank has served as a platform for upcoming politicians and party leaders.

“Xarabank has always served as a catalyst for change, as well as a place where party leaders can make an impact on the country’s people,” Azzopardi said.