'ABC' seeking Indonesian partner

'ABC' seeking Indonesian partner

JAKARTA (JP): Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) hopes
to follow up on the popularity of its Radio Australia in
Indonesia by penetrating the local television industry.

ABC Managing Director David Hill is visiting Indonesia this
week to negotiate broadcast arrangements with local television
companies.

"Indonesia provides a large and important audience for Radio
Australia and there is growing interest in international
television services," Hill told reporters on Monday.

Hill would not elaborate on which local television stations
are involved, besides confirming that negotiations for
rebroadcast arrangements are underway at this time.

According to Hill, Australian television programs can either
be downlinked or rebroadcast free of charge if local programmers
also broadcast the commercial sponsors of that particular
program.

ABC's Australian Television (ATV) already reaches Indonesian
television viewers who own satellite receiver dishes. ATV's
international broadcasts were launched here last year using
Indonesia's Palapa B2P satellite.

"The service has been spectacularly successful," Hill said,
adding that they were also extremely satisfied with the
facilities provided by the Palapa satellite.

Hill also expressed ABC's eagerness to shift to new Palapa C
provided a "satisfactory arrangement" can be found.

Hill asserted that Indonesian stations should not feel
threatened by the presence of Australian programs.

"We do not regard ATV as constituting a threat to Indonesian
programs because it concentrates more on education and
information," he said.

ATV has already been downlinked from Palapa to local networks
in Laos, Vietnam, China, and the Philippines. (07)