There used to be a time, even just a few years ago when Malta had good radio stations. Not only was there a good balance between different stations for every taste, but there were also different programmes which offered different types of music.

But if you had to listen to the radio now, it is the same repetitive pop music, minute after minute, hour after hour and day after long painful day. What has gone wrong? Even the presenters are average at best.

What happened to all the discussion programmes that used to be aired? Very few stations still do them. The political stations are not much better, insomuch as that they contain skewed news, skewed monologue programmes. Of course, they are there to serve a purpose, and there are some good evening programmes when old rock and country music programmes are broadcast, but on the whole, they are very poor too.

Gone are the golden years of Maltese radio where a DJ was a DJ and everyone knew who they were. In the past, DJs would do their research and pull out all the great tracks that were coming out around the world. Now it is simply a case of putting a playlist search into google, lining the tracks up in an automated playlist and broadcasting terrible manufactured pop rubbish.

There are no rock programmes, there are no local music programmes, there are no alternative music programmes...  The DJ’s seem to have no clue whatsoever as to what is going on around them, none of them seem to do any digging to see what music is emerging around the world and giving it airtime. One would also expect a lot more airplay to be given to local bands and artists, but again, it is only the ones that have ‘made it’ that are put on air.

The way the programmes are presented also leaves a lot to be desired. There are no characters out there anymore and they are simply not funny or interesting. Many people actually flick the channel, hoping to find something better to listen to as soon as the presenter cuts in, ruins the track and starts bawling down the microphone.

There are also some stations that are subcontracting shows from outside Malta to broadcast during certain hours, presumably, to save money. To be fair, the music that is actually played and the DJ’s that present the show are much better than the local ones. But it does make you wonder, how have we fallen so far, when in the past, radio was so good? Gone are the years when radio listeners actually used to have arguments about which their favourite station was, now it’s literally flick from one station to the other in the hope of finding something decent to listen to.