Action serials and 'me-too' programming in local TV

By Antariksawan Jusuf

JAKARTA (JP): Remember the time when every Indonesian television station's eyes were on spooky series? Or at another time, when every station suddenly focussed on dramas with a plot- spinning mix of adultery and revenge? Now whenever they zap their remote controls, on almost every station, they come across local, classic, action serials.

With the success of Indosiar airing Misteri Gunung Merapi (Mount Merapi Mystery) every Sunday at 7:30 p.m. since its maiden broadcast on Nov. 1, almost every station has engaged in a "me- too" programming strategy. All programs are based mostly on classic folk legends, history or just pure fiction.

Indosiar itself created two similar series: Dendam Nyi Pelet (Mondays at 6 p.m.) which shares a similar title with SCTV's Misteri Nini Pelet and Angling Darma (Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m.). Both programs always gain double digit ratings.

Looking at its viewer' performance, Misteri Gunung Merapi is the success story every station is dreaming of. The ratings in its first episode stood at 21 percent and its shares were at 50 percent, meaning 50 percent of all viewers at that particular time tuned in to the program.

And since the first episode hit the air at the end of 1998, it has always been among the five top-rated programs.

"It must be acknowledged that Indosiar is a trend-setter for this kind of programming," Indosiar spokesman Gufroni Sakaril said.

"This serial creates its own loyal viewers. They provide high ratings and at the end of the day give advertisers certainty," he added.

But Indosiar is not the first. Years before their current success, TPI screened programs of such genre: Saur Sepuh (1993), Mahkota Mayangkara (1994) and Kaca Benggala (1995).

Each serial maintained a relatively long running season of about two years. The station is now showing only one serial Badai Laut Selatan (Fridays at 8 p.m.) which is not so successful in terms of ratings.

"Aside from the high production budget, we abandoned this kind of program then because this type of program was losing its popularity," TPI spokesman Theresia Ellasari said.

Too bad now that the trend is heading back in that direction. RCTI airs Borobudur (Saturdays at 8 p.m.) and SCTV broadcasts Misteri Nini Pelet (Mondays at 7:30 p.m.) and Prahara Prabu Siliwangi (Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m.).

SCTV banks on several factors to make the programs successful. SGTV's Prabu Siliwangi shares the same actors and actresses with Indosiar's Misteri Gunung Merapi. Based on a popular radio series Misteri Gunung Ceremai, which has been aired in 270 commercial radios throughout the country, Misteri Nini Pelet expects the popularity among radio listeners will extend to television.

"It is a current but short-lived trend like any television programming trend. It is simply a matter of a programming strategy. By airing similar programs, we are trying to adjust to the programming trend," said SCTV local acquisition manager Buyung Mawardi.

"We have to accept the fact that such kind of programs currently attract lots of viewers and it is also good to anticipate the competitors' moves," Mawardi added.

But not all programs are successful. For one of its programs, Jaka Gledek, SCTV had to bow out to, what Gene Jankowski and David Fuchs refer to as, dictatorship of numbers.

"Whatever the enterprise, there is a product, there must be a means of getting it to the customers, and someone must be willing to pay for it ... If the costs of distribution and production outweigh the income from sales, there is no business. In television, sales and the size of the audience are directly related," said Jankowski and Fuchs in a book Television, Today and Tomorrow (Oxford University Press 1995).

In short, commercial stations are preoccupied with ratings and profit margins. They are not interested in anything that does not attract millions of viewers.

Jaka Gledek, which showed every Friday at 7:30 p.m., had to make a way for another program FTV Misteri (Film Television Mystery). One of the reasons the station killed the program was its performance never reached a double-digit rating. Lower ratings means less interest from advertisers and means less income.

So in the future, if the response from viewers is weak toward these kinds of programs, the station will definitely click its programming strategy over to yet another kind of programming genre.