Radio Calypso, which was based in Gozo, closed down and its nationwide FM frequency was taken over by Radju Marija Malta on 17 June.

Sources said these investors have had contacts with the Broadcasting Authority and have set up a company as required by the Broadcasting Act in order to qualify for a nationwide radio frequency.

The investors have also filed an application with the BA, according to these sources.

A number of former Radio Calypso employees are also said to be involved in this project, they added.

However, the BA would not confirm whether there had been such contacts. “The Broadcasting Authority is not receiving any applications for terrestrial nationwide radio (...) stations,” was its reply.

The sources said the investors had originally sought to buy Radio Calypso from its owner, Fr Benedict Camilleri, for a sum of “around Lm140,000”. However, the frequency of Radio Calypso was eventually acquired by Radju Marija Malta.

As reported in this newspaper last Sunday, former Radio Calypso employee Enzo Gusman claimed in an email he sent to Archbishop Joseph Mercieca on 19 June that more than Lm150,000 had been spent on this acquisition.

In his reaction, Radju Marija Malta director of programmes FrCharles Fenech told The Malta Independent on Sunday that he could not comment on this claim at that stage since discussions to wrap up the sale of Radio Calypso’s shares were still underway.

However, in an interview published a week earlier (TMIS, 11 July), Fr Fenech had said: “The amount was quite substantial. Many times, this does not only involve the purchase of a licence but also to settle certain pendancies which would have accumulated over time.”

Getting a new radio licence will not be an easy task for these investors, since the BA had already received another 11 expressions for interest for a nationwide radio licence when it issued a call in 2002.

However, there is only one frequency which can be allocated since there is only one space left at the Gharghur master antenna. Government has a few other frequencies that could be assigned to the authority but there is no space for additional radio stations at the master antenna.

When the BA expanded its facilities at the master antenna in 1994 to accommodate another four radio stations, it had spent Lm60,000. “Presently,” the BA said in its 2002 annual report, “the said expenditure is prohibitive unless the government were to provide the necessary capital investment.”

This led the BA to commission a study last year to assess whether it is feasible to open new radio and television stations in the already saturated Maltese media market before awarding any new licences. The results of this study, which was scheduled to be completed by April, will be announced by the BA at a press conference tomorrow.