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James Debono
After 10 years on the air-waves Xarabank still manages to remain on top, emerging as respondents’ favourite programme in a survey conducted by sister newspaper Illum last Sunday.
But a very high 35 per cent of respondents could not mention a single Maltese favourite programme-a clear indication that all is well in the state of Denmark.
Males are particularly unsatisfied with the state of local TV with 42 per cent saying that they do not have a favourite Maltese TV programme.
With most programmes running for most of the past decade- a lack of variety seems to characterise Maltese TV. Only three - Gizelle, Doksa and Pupi - of the thirteen top programmes are running for the first time this year while others like Xarabank, Tista’ Tkun Int and Becky have been running for more than five years.
Apart from Xarabank, which has gone back to tackling controversial issues after years of flirting with real TV, discussion programmes have not fared well in the Illum survey, and are overtaken by drama and light entertainment. Doksa a new discussion programme on NET TV manages to make some inroads among males, where it overtakes Bondì Plus.
Prison drama Santa Monika which is in its second year on NET TVand ONE TV’s new drama Gizelle emerge as the closest contenders for the top spot. Santa Monika owes its success to the popularity it enjoys among respondents aged above 55. Within this bracket, the prison drama manages to topple old time favourites Xarabank and Tista Tkun Int.
Gizelle – a drama revolving around the life of two girls who grew up in an orphanage separated at 13 years of age-emerges as the most successful new entry, especially among those aged 18 to 54 where it emerges as the second favourite programme after Xarabank.
Like Santa Monika, Tista Tkun Int also fares better among those aged above 55 years of age. The tear jerking show also emerges as the favourite programme among female respondents where it tops the charts with 10.6 per cent of preferences. Yet Tista Tkun Int’s overall popularity is dented by its unpopularity among males. Only 3.6 of males consider this programme as their favourite. |
