Where this was said
Terry Farrugia u l-vibe
At 1:05:20 · chapter starts 58:30
Terry Farrugia looms over this conversation as a figure of almost mythological significance in the story of Maltese radio. Frank describes how Terry built Vibe FM not as a music station but as a personality platform — a place where presenters were expected to be genuinely interesting, opinionated, and distinctive. The vision was bold for a small island media market: build real personalities that listeners could follow, invest in, argue about. Frank credits Terry with teaching him what it means to build a brand from the inside out — not just playing music but making radio feel like a lifestyle. The relationship was complex: mentor, creative partner, difficult boss, and visionary all at once. Frank's tone when speaking about Terry is unmistakably one of deep respect, coloured by the difficulty of what came later.
Terry Farrugia is credited by Frank as the person who built and shaped Vibe FM's vision and personality-driven brand identity.
Terry Farrugia didn't just run a radio station — he built a personality-driven brand at a time when Maltese radio was content to be background noise. Frank Zammit says without Terry's vision, Vibe FM would never have been what it became.
Frank stated that for radio to remain relevant in Malta, stations need to invest in visual content and build distinctive personalities that extend beyond the audio format.
Radio in Malta faces an existential challenge: if you're audio-only, you're invisible. Frank argues that the stations that survive will be the ones that build personalities people want to see, not just hear — and that means embracing video.
