In the audience assessment survey, carried out in March as COVID-19 started to hit the island, there was a marked rise in the number of people switching on their sets, with the report specifying a surge of 8.1 percent in television viewers compared to November 2019, and a jump of 9.8 percent compared to March 2019.

Maltese viewers tended to watch foreign channels (35.5 percent), for an average of 2.43 hours daily, and the main public broadcasting channel, TVM (32.6 percent), which ranked first of all local TV stations. Viewers watched TVM for an average of 1.46 hours a day.

The most popular types of programming, according to those surveyed, were local and foreign news (26.5 percent); local drama (14.5 percent); discussion and current affairs programmes (10.5 percent); documentaries (9.6 percent); and cultural or educational programmes (9.4 percent).

There was also a marked increase in the number of services used, principally among 21 to 30-year olds (35.2 percent), with the steepest rise for Netflix services (8.9 percent).

To complete the assessment, forty daily questionnaires were compiled by Malta’s National Statistics Office, giving a total sample of 1,240 respondents, giving a margin of error of 2.72 per cent.