'Unacceptable standards' on community TV station

The Broadcasting Authority has categorically denied allegations made against it by Fr John Baptist Farrugia on behalf of a small community TV station, UTV.

The BA filed a response to a judicial protest by Fr Farrugia and the company behind the station, U Communications.

The station, in its protest, had taken on both the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader, two regulators, among them the BA, and a leading communications company.

Fr Farrugia alleged that the Broadcasting Authority had discriminated against his TV by refusing to renew its broadcasting licence.

The broadcasting regulator said it had originally issued the company with a broadcasting licence for one year and that it had refused to renew it because the company had failed to conform with the licence conditions.

According to the authority, U Communications had failed to respect the broadcasting schedule it had been given and had not broadcast news bulletins. The company's presenters were not serious and professional while the standard of programmes was not acceptable.

The regulator also said that U Communications had not maintained an acceptable level of quality in programming nor had it developed managerial qualities.

As a result, the authority had refused to renew the company's broadcasting licence.

Lawyer Ian Refalo signed the counter protest.