Television industry still belongs to oldtimers<\/p>\n
Luas Samudera, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The introduction of several new private TV stations -- Trans-TV,
\nLativi, TV7 and Global-TV -- earlier this year has changed the
\nmap of local TV.<\/p>\n
The top three are still in the hands of the oldtimers:
\nIndosiar, RCTI and SCTV, although the new Trans-TV has
\ntaken a small portion of the viewership, endangering the position
\nof fourth ranked TPI.<\/p>\n
Clearly, the three stations -- Trans-TV, Lativi and TV7 plunge
\ninto already crowded general entertainment and \"supermarket\"
\ntelevision of the mainstream channels, while Global-TV joined
\nhands with MTV Asia to run a 24-hour music channel, some programs
\nwere even moved from the former MTV partner ANteve. The latter
\nhas introduced several new live formats since the change of its
\nownership.<\/p>\n
In terms of ownership, local TV saw several dramatic ownership
\nchanges. Front runner Indosiar, whose 49 percent shares were sold
\nby the Indonesian Banking Restructuring Agency (IBRA) to PT TDM
\nAsset Management. Skeptics suspect former owner Salim group is
\nbehind the firm which was set up only three months before taking
\nover the majority ownership of Indosiar. But no further
\nexplanation on the issue from the publicly listed firm was
\navailable. IBRA, and its subsidiary PT Holdiko Perkasa, which
\ncontrols all assets of the former Salim conglomerate, still holds
\n8.26 percent of shares in the station, while 27.74 percent shares
\nare held by PT Prima Viasualindo and 15 percent by the public.<\/p>\n
ANteve changed management which significantly revamped its
\nprogramming lineup. It was reported to have been totally sold to
\nCapital Management Asia, this firm is believed to be Bakrie's
\nSingapore-based firm, from former shareholders' PT Bakrie
\nInvestindo (60 percent) and PT Hasmuda Internusa (40 percent)
\nsince March 2002. Bakrie's heir-to-the-crown Anindya Bakrie is
\nnow holding the position as the president director of the firm.
\nSpokesperson Soraya Perucha said CMA is a consortium of several
\nlocal companies, but she refused to reveal the total investment
\ninvolved in the deal.<\/p>\n
Third-ranked SCTV's holding company PT Surya Citra Media
\n(SCM), which earlier took over shares of PT Datakom Asia in SCTV,
\nhas sold its 20 percent or 375 million shares, to the public at
\nan initial price offering 1,100 rupiah in early July. Lead
\nunderwriter CLSA Indonesia said 70 percent of the shares were
\nbought by foreign financial institutions.<\/p>\n
SCM said the proceeds will be used largely to pay off a loan
\nto a local bank worth Rp 230 billion, and Rp 150 billion rupiah
\nis earmarked to expand SCTV's facilities and the remaining will
\nbe allocated to strengthen corporate capital. After the IPO, PT
\nAbhimata Mediatama and PT Mitrasari Persada respectively own 40
\npercent of the shares.<\/p>\n
However, a company, PT Citra Gemilang Sejahtera (CGS) in
\nNovember called on the management of the Jakarta Stock Exchange
\nto temporarily suspend trading of SCM shares.<\/p>\n
CGS, believed to be owned by Surya Paloh of Metro-TV and Media
\nIndonesia daily, claimed that Datakom was still holding 47.5
\npercent of the shares in SCTV. CGS has acquired Datakom's credit
\nassets held by IBRA amounting to Rp 180 billion. These assets are
\nbelieved to include 47.5 percent of the shares in SCTV and an
\noption to acquire 25 percent of Indosiar for Rp 25 billion.<\/p>\n
Another player Bhakti Investama is pouring its energy into the
\ntelevision business under its Bimantara holding company. During a
\nshareholders' meeting in early May, Hary Tanoesudibyo was
\nappointed as the president director of Bimantara. Earlier, under
\nits subsidiary PT Panca Aneka Selaras, Bimantara acquired 70
\npercent of new free TV licensee Global-TV. Two other stations,
\nRCTI and round-the-clock news channel Metro-TV are already under
\nBimantara's umbrella, which owns 69.8 percent and 25 percent,
\nrespectively.<\/p>\n
Two television stations -- TPI and a local JTV in Surabaya-
\nalmost fell as the first victims of the cut-throat industry.
\nPublicly listed IDD monopoly holder Indosat has threatened to
\nclaim bankruptcy against TPI because of its failure to pay off on
\nconvertible bonds worth Rp 150 billion due last October. After
\nnegotiations, Indosat agreed to extend the terms for another two
\nmonths.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, police in East Java closed down and barred
\nentry to the transmission facilities of JTV, citing illegal
\noperations. No further explanations were available on what the
\nstation could do to resume the service the following week.<\/p>\n
* Local TV<\/p>\n
With the growing pressure for more regional autonomy since the
\nfall of the Indonesian government under former president Suharto,
\nseveral Indonesia provinces have launched or in the process of
\nlaunching their own local television stations.<\/p>\n
The oil-rich region of Riau has introduced Riau-TV in addition
\nto an existing local station Pekanbaru-TV which hit the air last
\nyear.<\/p>\n
And so the same story goes for Amuntai-TV in the South
\nKalimantan town of Hulu Sungai Utara, Makassar-TV in South
\nSulawesi, Pupuk Kaltim-TV and LNG-TV both in East Kalimantan.
\nEast Java province has several stations such as JTV in Surabaya,
\nEskape-TV in Banyuwangi, Lumajang-TV in Lumajang, WM-TV owned by
\nWidya Manggala university in Surabaya. There is also one in
\nCentral Java Pemalang-TV and Papua-TV in Papua.<\/p>\n
* Pay TV<\/p>\n
Despite relatively stagnant growth of several existing
\noperators, others still see the light at the end of the tunnel in
\nthe pay TV industry.<\/p>\n
One company, Global Vision, is still optimistic about getting
\na bite and launched the service in July 2002.<\/p>\n
Other firms such as PT Cipta Skynindo, reported a surprising
\nnumber of 30,000 new subscribers for its Chinese channels during
\nits two years of operations. Unplink feeds are transmitted from
\nTaiwan.<\/p>\n
The existing cable operators have to face the fact that the
\nIndonesian market is not used to pay TV yet. PT Broadband
\nMultimedia, which operates Kabelvision, has yet to reach their
\nideal plan of 100,000 subscribers by the end of this year.<\/p>\n
The first pay TV group here was Indovision, owned by Datakom,
\nand it saw the number of its subscribers hover in the
\nneighborhood of 30,000 in the past three years. The only change
\nis Datakom Asia changed hands from Peter Gontha to PT Bhakti
\nInvestama of Hary Tanoesudibyo.<\/p>\n
Armed with more existing facilities to exploit, TelkomVision
\nprovides subscribers with more choice to access its pay TV
\nservices using fiber optic technology in conjunction with its
\nparent company's Telkom-1 satellite.<\/p>\n
* Advertising Expenditure<\/p>\n
There is no official figure yet on this year's advertising
\nexpenditures, but according to the Indonesian Advertising Agency
\nAssociation (P3I) chairman RTS Masli, this year's gross
\nadvertising is estimated to grow by 30 percent to reach Rp 12.6
\ntrillion. He said 60 percent of it (Rp 7.5 trillion) would go to
\ntelevision stations.<\/p>\n
* New Broadcast Law<\/p>\n
One of the hottest issues of the industry this year was the
\nintroduction of a controversial Broadcast Law to replace the
\noutdated 1997 Broadcast Law. The law will take effect after being
\nsigned by the president. The approval of the law by the
\nlegislature in November, amid protests from television and radio
\nowners, could drastically change the industry. Only the
\ngovernment owned and operated television station, TVRI will be
\nable to air nationwide. While private stations will air locally
\nand their reach to other provinces is allowed under a condition
\nthat they team up with a local firm.<\/p>\n
The new law also allows foreign ownership to a maximum of 20
\npercent and acknowledges the community television.<\/p>\n
One of the controversies is the formation of a new Indonesian
\nBroadcast Commission (KPI) which sets broadcast guidelines,
\nprovides broadcast permits, oversees implementation of broadcast
\nregulations and hands out sanctions for evildoers. This
\ncommission is believed to be the new super powerful offspring of
\nthe now-defunct information ministry under former president
\nSuharto. Former president Abdurrachman Wahid dissolved the
\nministry in the spirit of free press, democracy and Reformasi,
\nbut apparently the current administration felt it was necessary
\nto regain control.<\/p>\n
The new law is expected to influence the trading of shares
\nrelated to stations such as SCM of SCTV, Indosiar, and Bimantara,
\nowner of RCTI, Metro-TV and Global-TV.<\/p>",
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