The Tourism and Culture Ministry has issued directives for the Public Broadcasting Services regarding the way they should spend the government contribution of Lm500,000 on the Extended Public Service Obligation (EPSO).

The ministry said the aim of the directives was to improve the quality of public broadcasts and help PBS accomplish its public service mission.

Among its measures, the government called on PBS to use half the government’s contribution on prime-time slots and late-night programmes.

The directives also included a clause regarding the use of the Maltese language. Those wishing to qualify for EPSO funds must include a script and the type of Maltese used must correspond with the guidelines issued by the language commission of the Akkademja tal-Malti in 2002.

Every proposal must also include the name of a qualified person in the programme’s theme under focus, said the ministry.

The ministry also encouraged the inclusion of foreign programmes dubbed in Maltese. Children’s programmes, as well as educational programmes and documentaries, were among the genres that could be included in the dubbing policy.

The ministry also discouraged repetitions of programmes and said it would not allow money from the government’s contribution to be “wasted” on repetitions.

The directives also stipulated government policies regarding each genre and among other aspects, the ministry requested that two evenings should be dedicated to drama, while another programme should focus on Maltese history.

The ministry also said the number of children’s programmes should remain unchanged and asked that programmes focusing on national issues be broadcast on Radju Malta.

The government also stipulated amounts that should be spent on programmes of different genres, but it decided not to publish the figures before PBS came to a conclusion on contracts with independent producers.