What is TVM?
TVM is a nationwide television service of Public Broadcasting Services Ltd. (PBS). The Broadcasting Authority's register of licensed stations lists, under nationwide television, “TVM, TVM+, TVMsport+ – Public Broadcasting Services Ltd.”, and under nationwide radio “Radju Malta, Radju Malta 2, Magic Malta – Public Broadcasting Services Ltd.”[1] The company's corporate site and its news site, tvmnews.mt, could not be retrieved, so its own description of itself is not given here.
The Euromedia Ownership Monitor's Malta report of December 2025, by Joe Cannataci and Aitana Radu of the University of Malta, describes the country's media as a combination of “publicly funded outlets (e.g. Public Broadcasting Service), political party-owned outlets (ONE – Malta Labour Party; Net – Malta Nationalist Party), institutional media tied to important socio-political actors (Newsbook Malta – Malta Catholic Church and L-Orizzont – General Workers' Union)”, commercial groups and digital platforms.[4] The Broadcasting Authority's register lists the two party-owned stations the monitor names as “ONE – ONE Productions Ltd.” and “Net Television – Media.Link Communications Ltd.”[1] Reporters Without Borders, in its 2026 entry, calls PBS “The public broadcaster”.[6] The descriptions are the monitor's and RSF's words.
What does TVM cover?
For sport, the Broadcasting Authority's register lists a dedicated channel, TVMsport+, beside TVM and TVM+.[1] The Malta Football Association's preview of Malta's Under-21 qualifier against Northern Ireland, published on 25 September 2026, states: “The Malta U21 National Team's match against Northern Ireland kicks off at 19:00hrs at the Centenary Stadium on Saturday 26 September.” It adds: “The match will also be broadcast live on TVMSport+.”[7] That is the latest dated listing of sport on the channel that was retrieved, and it is the association's announcement, not the broadcaster's schedule.
No rights term for any competition could be retrieved from PBS, because its sites could not be fetched. The Broadcasting Authority's survey of September 2025 reports favourite programme genres for local television, headed by news at 80.2 per cent, and lists no sport genre. Its table of favourite local TV programmes, from 1,649 respondents, lists “Football matches (various)” at 5.9 per cent, attributed to no station.[3]
How large is TVM's audience?
Malta's broadcast audience figures come from the Broadcasting Authority. Its survey of September 2025 was issued on 5 December 2025; fieldwork ran from 14 to 20 September 2025, with 2,100 completed telephone interviews of residents aged 12 and over, 300 a day over seven consecutive days.[2][3] It states: “The most followed local TV station is TVM with 24.5% of all TV viewers, followed by ONE (18.2%) and NET TV (17.9%).” It also states that “The local TV station with the highest weekly average percentage audience share is NET TV standing at 23.9%”.[3] The same survey gives TVM's weekly average share as 13.9 per cent, against 23.9 per cent for NET TV and 17.6 per cent for ONE.[3] These are the survey's figures for all programmes, not for sport, and for one week of fieldwork.
Reporters Without Borders, in its 2026 entry, states: “The public broadcaster PBS is the most watched television channel, ahead of TV stations owned by political parties.”[6] The survey's two measures, most followed station and weekly average share, point different ways, and the RSF sentence is a third account; all three are reported as their sources give them.
Since when has TVM existed?
No founding date for TVM or for Public Broadcasting Services Ltd. could be retrieved from a primary source: the company's own sites could not be fetched, and the Broadcasting Authority's register gives licensees, not dates.[1]
The present position is dated instead. The register, as retrieved on 26 September 2026, lists TVM, TVM+ and TVMsport+ under Public Broadcasting Services Ltd., and the Malta Football Association announced on 25 September 2026 a live broadcast on TVMSport+ for the following day.[1][7]
Why does TVM matter in Malta's sport?
It is the television service of the company that the Broadcasting Authority lists as licensee of TVMsport+, the channel the Malta Football Association named for its Under-21 national team's qualifier on 26 September 2026.[1][7] In the Authority's September 2025 survey it is the station the Authority calls “The most followed local TV station”.[3]
Monitoring bodies have published on Malta's public service media, and each is quoted in its own words. The Media Pluralism Monitor's Malta 2026 page, last modified on 2 July 2026, states: “On the one hand, the two dominant political parties own their own media houses, and the public service media is widely considered government-controlled. On the other, the extensive presence of political patronage often permeates into commercial media through sponsored content and, in some cases, curated coverage. This being said, independent media is still strong, despite the unfavourable conditions.” It states: “Although public service media channels and services in Malta have a legal duty of impartiality, they continue to face significant and persistent challenges regarding political independence and fair representation.” It also states: “Appointments to the Public Broadcasting Services board, which are the direct responsibility of the Minister in charge, are not transparent. It remains to be seen whether the introduction of the European Media Freedom Act will change this.” It gives Malta's political independence area a risk score of 79 per cent.[5] The Euromedia Ownership Monitor classes PBS among “publicly funded outlets”.[4] Those are the monitors' characterisations.
References
- Broadcasting Authority (Malta) — Stations licenced (nationwide television and radio stations with licensees). Accessed 2026-09-26.
- Broadcasting Authority (Malta) — Audience Survey September 2025, press release issued 5 December 2025. Accessed 2026-09-26.
- Broadcasting Authority (Malta) — Audience Survey September 2025 (fieldwork 14–20 September 2025; 2,100 CATI interviews, residents 12+) (PDF). Accessed 2026-09-26.
- Euromedia Ownership Monitor — Malta, country report 2025 edition (Joe Cannataci and Aitana Radu, University of Malta; December 2025). Accessed 2026-09-26.
- Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom — Malta 2026, Media Pluralism Monitor country page (last modified 2 July 2026). Accessed 2026-09-26.
- Reporters Without Borders — 2026 World Press Freedom Index, Malta (rank 67 of 180, score 61.44; media landscape, economic context). Accessed 2026-09-26.
- Malta Football Association — Mazzotta highlights importance of self-confidence, courage and determination vs Northern Ireland (25 September 2026). Accessed 2026-09-26.