Queasy about television quiz shows<\/p>\n
By Prapti Widinugraheni<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Test your general knowledge, do better than your
\nopponents and win Rp 1 million: that's a quiz. Pick a number --
\njust for fun -- and win a car: that's a guessing game, or a
\nsweepstake in some cases. But spend your money on a lottery
\nticket, see how far your luck can go and get frustrated because
\nyou missed: now that's gambling.<\/p>\n
However, the differences aren't all that clear when it comes
\nto television quiz shows, at least that's how some politicians
\nand government officials think.<\/p>\n
Television station owners are now feeling queasy because the
\ngovernment says some of the television quiz shows require a
\nspecial permit from the Ministry of Social Services because they
\namount to the same as lottery.<\/p>\n
It started last week when legislators from House Commission
\nVIII, which oversees social welfare affairs asked the ministry of
\nsocial affairs how it intends to deal with television stations
\nbroadcasting \"gambling under the guise of quizzes and
\nsweepstakes\" without official permits.<\/p>\n
\"That, I think, is going a bit too far. Gambling is addictive
\nand totally depends on luck,\" says Eduard Depari, Public
\nRelations Manager of Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia (RCTI).<\/p>\n
Although human beings have a tendency to speculate once in a
\nwhile and there are times when people simply have to guess in
\nmany aspects of life, a television quiz game, he said, \"is just
\nfor fun\".<\/p>\n
\"People don't need to have a certain amount of capital to join
\na quiz, all you need is good general knowledge, and as far as I
\nknow no one has ever become frustrated after losing a quiz,
\nbecause nothing is sacrificed,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Last week, the ministry of social service's Director General
\nfor Social Aid Supervision Syafei Anjasmaya, after a hearing with
\nlegislators, assured that he would reprimand managers of private
\ntelevision stations for organizing \"gambling\" practices.<\/p>\n
Legislators consider that gambling has re-emerged in more
\nsophisticated forms in the print media, television quiz shows and
\nin children's games held in amusement parks. All of these, they
\nsaid, awarded the winner a certain amount of money and involved
\nluck; it therefore implied gambling.<\/p>\n
Television station executives interviewed by The Jakarta Post
\nthink this is not the case.<\/p>\n
\"In a quiz, the winner is the one who can think more quickly
\nand more accurately. Is that gambling? I don't think so, because
\ngambling completely relies on luck,\" said Surya Citra Televisi
\n(SCTV) Public Relations Assistant Haryanto.<\/p>\n
To join a television quiz, people have to meet a set of
\ncriteria and to become a winner, people have to compete with
\ntheir opponents.<\/p>\n
\"I must admit that the speculation factor is there, but it is
\nnot the same as gambling,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Similarly, Agus Madjadikara, the creative director for Fortune
\nAdvertising Agency which produces television quiz shows, mini
\nseries and commercials together with production houses, pointed
\nout that \"if winning depends on the intelligence of a person, no
\nspecial permission is required from the ministry of social
\nservices\".<\/p>\n
Production houses, who manage the technical, operational and
\nlegal aspects of a television program, are actually the ones who
\ndeal directly with legal aspects and permits.<\/p>\n
\"Since we started producing quiz shows, I have repeatedly
\nasked the ministry whether or not special permits are required.
\nThe answer, they keep telling me, is no,\" said a staff member of
\nthe Yasawirya Tama Cipta production house, who requested
\nanonymity. \"If there is a law which stipulates that quiz shows
\nneed official permission, please show it to us and we will abide
\nby it.\"<\/p>\n
In line with this, Haryanto stressed that SCTV would comply
\nwith whatever the government says. \"If they say we need a permit,
\nwe'll get a permit,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Despite the debate, quiz shows have proven to boost television
\nratings.<\/p>\n
Eduard estimates that Kuis Tak Tik Boom and Kuis Keluarga
\nLifebouy, two of RCTI's quiz shows, attract more than 30 percent
\nof television viewers nationwide.<\/p>\n
\"Shows like these are interesting because viewers get excited
\nand become involved. The rewards are also quite generous, which
\nis only normal because it is our way of appreciating their
\nparticipation,\" Eduard said.<\/p>\n
Minister of Social Services Endang Kusuma Inten Suweno has
\nexplained that the government has decided to prohibit all forms
\nof gambling in the country.<\/p>\n
She said, however, there were disagreements over the
\ndefinition of 'gambling' -- even between high-ranking officials
\n-- and what some people consider gambling, others saw merely as a
\ngame or a sport played for entertainment.<\/p>\n
\"According to Law No. 7, 1974, gambling is any game or skill
\nusing money or an object to bet on and the chance of winning is
\nmerely a matter of luck, even though one of the players is more
\nskillful or has more expertise,\" she stated.<\/p>\n
Director of Social Charity Supervision Anindya Boedisoesetya
\non Tuesday toned down the controversy by clarifying the Ministry
\nof Social Services's position that not every quiz show requires a
\nspecial permit.<\/p>\n
\"Those that do are quiz shows which rely 100 percent on luck,
\nwhose participants need no special skill or knowledge to win.\"<\/p>\n
He said permits are necessary to show to the public that a
\nsweepstake is trustworthy and binds the sponsors to meet their
\nobligations to pay up.<\/p>\n
It also ensures that both the sponsors and the winners of game
\nshows pay their taxes, he added.<\/p>",
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