'Baywatch', 'MTV' out for Ramadhan

'Baywatch', 'MTV' out for Ramadhan

JAKARTA (JP): Baywatch and MTV are two of the programs that
will be dropped by local television stations because they could
offend Moslems as they begin their fasting ritual on Monday, the
start of the holy Ramadhan month.

"We're not taking any risks," Soraya Perucha, ANteve's
Corporate Communication manager, told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

ANteve relays the highly popular MTV music video programs as
well as its locally produced version Bursa Musik Indonesia. These
programs will be replaced by local films and music programs with
religious themes. The station is also dropping Prima Raga, the
morning aerobic show.

Soraya said some video music clips show eroticism and sadism,
or performers wearing outrageous clothes.

RCTI says it is dropping Baywatch, which is normally aired on
Sundays, and replacing it with a religious television drama. SCTV
is replacing the Indonesian drama serial Deru Debu with the
religious television drama Hikayat Mengembara.

"Although all our programs have already been censored by the
authorities, we are still tightening up our selection for
Ramadhan," Soraya said.

In 1994, SCTV viewers protested when the station broadcast, on
the first day of Ramadhan, a cooking program called Wok With Yan,
in which the host showed viewers how to prepare a pork dish.

Members of the Film Censorship Institute (LSF) welcomed the
initiative taken by the stations, although one of them, Masyuri
Syaid, wondered why the networks could not maintain such
vigilance all year round. (01)