Malta’s Sharp Shoot Media is gearing up to launch a new subscription-based app and website in November that will serve as a Maltese-language kids content hub.

Perlina TV is primarily geared towards kids up to age seven, with programming offered exclusively in the local dialect.

While Malta has a relatively small population estimated at 540,000, this platform will be available worldwide in order to cater to a much broader Maltese diaspora. (Australia, for example, is home to roughly 234,000 people who were either born in Malta or are Maltese by descent.)

Perlina TV was created by Sharp Shoot founders Steven Dalli and Justin Farrugia with support from the Arts Council Malta. Dalli tells Kidscreen that the kind of content they want to offer is key to preserving the local language of a small country like Malta. “This is very rare, since most islands around the world use the language of their neighboring countries.” 

The idea for Perlina TV stemmed from a conversation Dalli had when he asked his son to speak Maltese. He refused because, in his words, “All the cool characters speak English.” On most of Malta’s linear and digital television platforms, there’s a lack of children’s content offered in Maltese, particularly for the youngest demos. “Kids have no other option but to watch content in English,” Dalli notes. Though his son’s observation was a “harsh truth,” it also shed light on an opportunity for him and Farrugia to tackle.

There’s data backing up the existence of a gap. According to a national survey conducted by the Centre for the Maltese Language, one in four parents (ages 26 to 45) reported that their kids only speak English and can’t understand Maltese.

Sharp Shoot has already produced several original titles that will be available at launch, including 2D-animated series F’Ħajt tas-Sejjieħ (six x five minutes), which features animals (native to Malta) that sing and teach kids about numbers, colors and seasons; farm-centric puppet show Frattarija (24 x 20 minutes); and a 24 x 10-minute local geography romp called Linu Perlinu. The platform’s initial lineup will also include regional bedtime stories, a toon that reimagines popular fairytales with a Maltese twist, and a VR series called Fid-dinja ta’ Faqqusu.

Looking ahead, Perlina TV is focused on growing its original animation library—but Dalli says the team also wants to stock up on non-domestic animated series that are dubbed in Maltese.