The news that CEO Emmanuel Micallef is pulling out from Favourite channel, and that the station is reportedly facing heavy debts, is not only bad news for those employed with this media company, but must be seen in the wider context of the sustainability of all TV stations in such a small country.

When Favourite channel was launched two years ago, it promised to be a breath of fresh air: A privately owned independent station with no political links. However, even as they started transmitting their new programmes to curious, expectant viewers, the owners were already facing a saturated market, with the lion’s share of advertising being divided between PBS, Net TV and One.

The slow demise of Favourite channel has been evident for some time as presenters who had been roped in to pull viewers such as Ryan Borg, Eileen Montesin and Jean-Pierre Micallef quietly left to go work with other stations.

It is an open secret that even the party-owned stations are still around only because they are heavily subsidised by their respective political parties. PBS, on the other hand, has only managed to survive because its workforce was heavily slashed in a painful restructuring exercise a few years back.

The national station is also propped up by the state through direct financing and TV licences. One must also not underestimate the fact that the PBS schedule has been taken over by what are known as “farmed out” productions which are in the hands of private media houses who buy airtime and bring in considerable advertising.

Even with all this direct and not so indirect support, all the three main TV stations have had their share of financial difficulties. The reason is simple: Television is an expensive business and anyone who embarks on such a venture must do their market research and costing exercise properly. If a sound business plan has not been drawn up to allow for the inevitable losses which will be incurred in the first few years until a new TV station gets off the ground and makes its presence felt with advertisers, then the owners will be in for a nasty shock.

The reality is that Malta is simply too small for more than three stations, and some would argue that even three would not be sustainable if the said stations had to be left to fend for themselves without the safety net of subsidies.

If the stations had to be left to the whims of the true market forces of supply and demand, we would probably go back to the days when there was only one Maltese channel: PBS. It is true that the demand for programmes in Maltese has grown, but it is also true that the cost of producing them has likewise grown and if the advertising to pay for them is not roped in, then those who have contributed to a programme in one way or another will simply end up not being paid.

Expecting people to work for free just because they enjoy being on TV is simply not an option.