Quiz shows have all the right answers in tight ratings war<\/p>\n
By Yogita Tahil Ramani<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): There are TV shows that make you think hard.
\nThere are others whipped up as pure, unadulterated entertainment
\nto keep couch potatoes in their comfy chairs.<\/p>\n
And there are the ever-popular quiz shows offering a bit of
\nboth.<\/p>\n
Debonair quizmasters spout facts and brainy participants go
\nmushy on each other on national television.<\/p>\n
And if those were not enough to keep viewers coming back for
\nmore, contestants can clean up hundreds of thousands of rupiah in
\ncash or prizes in a matter of minutes.<\/p>\n
These guessing games have studio audiences clutching each
\nother's clammy hands and verbally jousting with each other for
\nthe right answers.<\/p>\n
When Famili 100 host Sonny Tulung asks participants to name
\n\"the most popular game played in Indonesia\", the bantering
\nbegins.<\/p>\n
Kuis Dangdut, a top-rated quiz show aired on the TPI private
\ntelevision station, has a game of statues. If participants so
\nmuch as twitch when the Arab-influenced music stops, they lose
\npoints, much to the audience's delight.<\/p>\n
Ani Sumadi, responsible for 30 percent of the on-air quiz
\nshows today through her Ani Sumadi Productions, said several
\nsignificant changes were occurring in local TV stations.<\/p>\n
The conventional TV producer has given way to the entrepreneur
\n-- typically young, who works fast, without fuss and within tight
\nbudgets.<\/p>\n
Patrick Schult, consultant at Grundy Productions -- the
\nproduction house responsible for Famili 100, the top-rated
\nadaptation of Family Feud from the U.S. -- said there was always
\nan element of risk in trying to decide whether a show would work
\nin a different country and market.<\/p>\n
\"We have lots of different formats that would not have suited
\nIndonesian audiences,\" Schult said. \"We worked on one, though,
\nand after analyzing the popularity of the show in other markets,
\nwe decided to give it a go.\"<\/p>\n
The proposal was for the show to air an unprecedented five
\ntimes weekly.<\/p>\n
\"No TV station would take the risk of airing a show five times
\na week ... it was a new concept ... (but) ANteve complied. We
\ntook the risk together.\"<\/p>\n
Refreshing<\/p>\n
ANteve's head of quiz shows, Atun Purbo, said it cost the
\nstation Rp 15 million to Rp 20 million for a day's shoot of three
\nto four 30-minute episodes of Famili 100.<\/p>\n
Today, the spotlight also shines on the presenter.<\/p>\n
Gone are the staid older male types -- excepting music-quiz
\nshow Berpacu Dalam Melodi's Koes Hendratmo -- replaced by much
\nyounger, refreshingly informal, slightly zany good lookers. They
\nknow how to warm audiences up and keep their interest.<\/p>\n
Aksara Bermakna's host Anton Gumelar said most people
\nunderestimated the job of the quizmaster.<\/p>\n
\"Some of us get a little nervous and a little excited when we
\nare on television,\" Anton said.<\/p>\n
\"To most, coming on television and performing their best in
\nthe worst of situations depends on the mood. However, we are paid
\nto control our moods, make the best of the situation, fire off
\nquestions, be time-efficient and keep audiences excited.\"<\/p>\n
\"A day, at times, comprises eight to nine half-hour shoots
\n(episodes). It can be grueling work if one does not have the
\nstamina to jabber on for hours nonstop.\"<\/p>\n
Anton said being on the receiving end of tirades from the boss
\nin front of studio audiences was part and parcel of the job.<\/p>\n
\"Nobody can afford to make unnecessary mistakes on national
\ntelevision.\"<\/p>\n
There are also marketable improvisations on ideas borrowed or
\ninspired from Western or other local shows.<\/p>\n
RCTI's quiz shows Piramida and Kata Berkait -- both inspired
\nby foreign programs -- average respectable ratings of 14 to 17
\nalmost every week on figures compiled by Survey Research
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Both shows are adapted from the Australian quiz shows, The
\nPyramid Game and Chain Reaction, from Freemantle Productions.<\/p>\n
Kuis Dangdut was a spinoff from Ani Sumadi Productions's
\nBerpacu Dalam Melodi. The latter was inspired by the long-running
\nAmerican quiz show, Name That Tune.<\/p>\n
\"People from TPI came to inform me that they were making a
\nquiz show similar to Berpacu Dalam Melodi,\" Ani said.<\/p>\n
\"It was fine with me, considering that audience markets of
\nKuis Dangdut and Berpacu Dalam Melodi are different.\"<\/p>\n
In the third week of January, Kuis Dangdut ranked among the
\ntop 10 in ratings for the cities of Bandung, Semarang, Jakarta
\nand Surabaya.<\/p>\n
Tak Tik Boom, a local TV variation on the game of tic-tac-toe,
\nalso scores well in ratings. The RCTI show, another Ani Sumadi
\nproduction, is hosted by the charming Dede Yusuf.<\/p>\n
\"What I like about Tak Tik Boom is the quality and kind of
\nquestions asked on the show,\" Ani said.<\/p>\n
Categories include music, sports and world affairs.<\/p>\n
High-tech advances have inevitably affected quiz show
\nproductions.<\/p>\n
\"Differences in today's quiz shows and the old ones lies in
\ntechnical advancements,\" Ani said. \"Before there were no digital
\nvideo effects, but now they have it.<\/p>\n
\"The show, Kata Si Kecil, has taken ideas from one of my
\nshows. However, in Kata Si Kecil, you will find things like a
\nchild zooming out from the monitor, looking like she is stepping
\ninto your living room. These things were not there before.\"<\/p>\n
If the hosts and special effects do not hook viewers, the
\nglittering prizes do.<\/p>\n
RCTI public relations manager Eduard Depari said winners in
\nKata Berkait received Rp 4 million and the losers took home
\ncassette players.<\/p>\n
\"In Piramida, it's Rp 5 million for the winners and a TV set
\nfor the losers,\" Eduard said.<\/p>\n
SCTV production coordinator for quiz and music shows, Troy
\nPantouw, said prizes varied for the show Detak-Detik.<\/p>\n
\"These include a 14-inch TV set or a cassette player, and
\nothers amounting to Rp 500,000 for first-level winners, to a
\nbrass bed or a Samsung electronic package amounting to Rp 7
\nmillion for fourth-level winners.\"<\/p>\n
Patrik explained that sponsors often contacted the TV station
\nwhen a show became popular.<\/p>\n
\"If that doesn't happen, then we have a prize department
\nwithin the TV station and they go out ... to make a proposal.\"<\/p>\n
He said this was more attractive for many clients due to the
\neconomic downturn.<\/p>\n
\"We tell them that we don't want money from them. We give them
\nthe exposure and they give us the TV set. We're both happy.\"<\/p>",
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