Former PBS CEO, Anton Attard, will not retain a role at the national station he has led until last week as claimed by MaltaToday last Sunday.

Speaking to the The Malta Independent, Mr Attard rubbished the article in MaltaToday that said that the “Labour government has decided to retain Anton Attard to coordinate all preparations for the Eurovision Song Contest in the adult and Junior sections.”

In comments made to this newsroom Mr Attard said, “I will have no formal or official role with PBS. However, as part of the termination agreement, I will be providing technical assistance to ensure smooth transition of duties.”

MaltaToday went on to say that Mr Attard “may retain his Euro74,000 salary at PBS, at least until 2016 without the burden of running the national broadcaster,” but according to Mr Attard even this is untrue.

He told this newsroom that “the agreement which I will be signing with PBS will regulate the termination of my employment within the rights resulting from my original contract,” hinting at a termination remuneration clause which is customary in high-ranking contracts such as that of the CEO at PBS. Mr. Attard would not disclose what kind of remuneration he is entitled to.

The post of CEO at PBS went to former TV and radio presenter John Bundy who took over from Anton Attard early last week. Mr Bundy will be responsible for Malta’s entry at the Eurovision contests and will be soon meeting his counterparts at the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), sources claim. Malta is due to host its second Junior Eurovision Song Contest in November. According to Mr Attard he will be providing technical assistance to ensure a smooth transition of duties.

Sources in government revealed that Mr. Attard turned down an offer by Minister Owen Bonnici to stay on at PBS as consultant on Eurovision matters.

The sources told this newsroom that Minister for Justice and Culture Owen Bonnici, politically responsible for PBS, fought tooth and nail to retain Anton Attard in his position while integrating John Bundy in another role but he was over ruled by the Office of the Prime Minister.  The choice of Mr Bundy to head PBS found some resistance within the Board of Directors with only three of the seven politically appointed directors voting in favor of Mr Bundy’s appointment which went through only thanks to the Chairman’s casting vote. 

Mr Bundy took the helm at PBS last Monday. Sources at the national broadcaster told this newsroom that he immediately set on a mission to seal off the Autumn TV schedule of programmes instructing managers to issue contracts in accordance with the Editorial Board’s selection of content.  But Mr Bundy had to face his first controversy at PBS when hours after he stepped into his new office he found out that plans to axe the popular talk show Xarabank were in the offing, ending 19 years of the popular programme produced and presented by journalist Peppi Azzopardi.

Rumours that Azzopardi will be replaced by MaltaToday’s managing editor Saviour Balzan had been doing the rounds within the industry. Mr Balzan is considered to be very close to Joseph Muscat and the OPM.  It now transpires that Xarabank found itself back on PBS’ schedule but MaltaToday will be the only news organisation entrusted with a programme on PBS. Proposals by other news companies, including one by The Malta Independent, have been ignored or rejected.

Sources said that Mr Balzan was ready to co-host a programme with Peppi Azzopardi instead of Xarabank but such plans fell through. He will now have his own version of the popular format with an audience in the studio to debate current affairs issues.

In the meantime, a new role, that of Deputy CEO has been created by PBS and filled by Charles Dalli, a highly competent and technical person who joined PBS after the election in 2013.

Sources told this newsroom that at some point PBS was considering to appoint two Deputy CEOs, one on the creative side and another on the technical but since Mr Bundy is considered to have ample experience in content generation it was decided not to rock the boat any further by asking the Board to rubber-stamp more top managerial posts with hefty salaries. 

The sources said that further musical chairs are to be expected at PBS within the coming weeks, possibly even an overhaul of the current board of directors.