The first week of October signals the new autumn television schedule, which in advertising terms, is the most crucial period for any television station. Production houses face a make or break period, with audience surveys being their best bet to claim a share from the already saturated advertising market.

A quick glance at the schedule of the national broadcaster reveals that current affairs programmes, this time around, have taken the lion’s share, with a significant increase in airtime dedicated to discussion programmes.

It would be interesting to know what justified the decision to dedicate so much prime time to current affairs programmes. Considering the highly sensitive and politically charged climate which is set to dominate in the coming weeks due to the impending electoral campaign, some ideas may come to mind. In this regard, the national broadcaster is bound to explain itself if it wants to avoid facing accusations regarding its impartiality, which has always been a hot potato.

TVAM has returned in an extended version, as it now starts half an hour before, at 6.30am. This programme had, in itself, already increased the dose of politics on PBS; it replaced breakfast shows, which were more magazine-like, rather than a fully-fledged political debate over cereal and orange juice as TVAM is.

However, this year the national broadcaster seems to have gone overboard with the decision to repeat this programme on TVM2, immediately after it ends at 9am on TVM. Relegating TVM2 to such a role, hardly justifies its existence.

The morning schedule of TVM, also includes various repeats of other discussion programmes such as Bondi+, Dissett, Close-Up and Realtà. So, in other words, viewers have to contend with discussion programmes almost all day long. These repeats are also scattered during the week on TVM2. Indeed, too much.

The peak time in the early evening, from 6.40pm right up to the news bulletin, is yet another discussion programme. Though there is an attempt to introduce some political satire, the bottom line is that seeing Peppi Azzopardi using a coffee machine on a daily basis, while sharing some of his views, is not the most refreshing innovation in the local broadcasting scene.

To compensate for this, the national broadcaster decided to move the prime-time discussion programmes from TVM to TVM2. For some reason, an exception was made for Xarabank, suggesting that some are more equal than others. It is, really, an overdose of politics which could only fuel more disputes and controversy.

One final word must go to the choice of names for some of these programmes, which leaves much to be desired. Saying that TVAM, TVPM and TVHEMM would not place high on any originality index is an understatement. The fact that presenters themselves seem to be having a hard time explaining to their viewers the subtle differences in pronunciation speaks volumes.