Labour-linked media company gets €50,000 government deal for underperforming app

A TV production house, closely aligned with the Labour Party and heavily reliant on government funding, has recently received a direct order worth €50,000 from the Education Ministry to finance its latest business venture – an app called Perlina TV.

The app was launched last November by Sharp Shoot Media—a small TV production company co-owned by Justin Farrugia, brother of Kurt Farrugia (former communications chief to disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat). The Perlina TV initiative was swiftly awarded €50,000 in government funding.

The Education Ministry had a dedicated educational television station, the latest version of which was called Education 22, but it was dismantled over time and has never been replaced.

The Perlina TV app is a private business venture that encourages students and their parents to subscribe for approximately €40 per year.

The project was underperforming financially, failing to meet initial projections. As a result, the government decided it would be ‘beneficial’ to purchase these services in bulk from Farrugia, allowing them to be distributed for ‘free’ to primary students.

Sharp Shoot Media was established in 2013, shortly after the Labour Party returned to power.

It quickly received tens of thousands of euro from PBS to produce drama series. It was awarded numerous direct contracts, including for advertisements and productions for the Office of the Prime Minister.

Labour frequently uses this company during its electoral campaigns.

When Sharp Shoot Media was launched, most of the government’s communication was controlled by the company owner’s brother, Kurt Farrugia (now Transport Malta CEO), along with Johann Grech, the former marketing manager for Joseph Muscat and now Malta’s Film Commissioner.

Among the most notable government grants received by Farrugia’s Sharp Shoot Media are those provided by Grech’s Malta Film Commission.