Broadcasting vs narrowcasting: Tale of two local TV stations

Luas Samudera, Contributor, Jakarta

When high-profile, print-media personality Surya Paloh launched the round-the-clock news television MetroTV in 2000, many gave him a thumb-ups for a number of reasons.

For one thing, MetroTV runs against the grain of the so-called general family entertainment nature of every existing television station.

And being the CNN of Indonesia, MetroTV offers also viewers a choice of updated, hourly news coverage. Many then hoped that MetroTV would have set the trend of narrow casting in television programming compared with regular broadcasting.

Two years later, however, it was forced to bow to market pressures. Commencing this month on weekends, MetroTV, 25 percent owned by Bimantara, begins introducing several programs which are normally broadcast on supermarket televisions, such as quiz- shows, based-on-true-story docudramas, and even soccer league matches.

"We have to admit that social activities and politics, which make news on the weekdays, run slower on the weekends," said Ario Widiatmiko, MetroTV's head of programming.

Credited as cutting-edge programs, the new programs expected to pull more viewers include Berpacu Dalam Melodi (BPM), a localized version of Face the Music, which shares the same format and host with the game as aired on TVRI in the 1980s for almost 11 years; Jazz Alley TV, featuring imported jazz performances; Ripley's Believe It or Not, and 30 games of Japan's J-League.

Ario cited other news-television outlets such as CNN, CNBC and Asia News Channel as having similar strategies when it came to weekend programming.

Add to that the performance of MetroTV programs ratings (see table), and any station will likely revamp its programming direction.

But the MetroTV experience does not stop its sister station GlobalTV from launching yet another narrow casting formula by introducing a nationwide, 24-hour music network.

GlobalTV spokeswoman Intan Abdams Katoppo said that the station, owned 70 percent by Bimantara, will have its signal on- air in May in five major cities covered by research firm AC Nielsen -- Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Semarang (all in Java), and Medan in north Sumatra.

It will join hands with MTV Asia, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc., to run MTV Indonesia, which earlier broadcast in ailing ANteve, Katoppo said.

She said that before running round-the-clock, the station will give a soft launch of its service, with six to ten hours of MTV programming.

Although produced by MTV, half the programs will have a local element in their content, either in the music clips or the hosts such as MTV Ampuh, MTV Wow or infotainment MTV What's Up.

The station expects to reach the some 15 million potential households, a short of about one million households of MTV fans while it still runs on ANteve under daily programming blocks.

GlobalTV, which is expected to share some technical facilities with its sister RCTI, is the last of five free TV new licensees to hit the air. Earlier MetroTV, TransTV, Lativ and YTV7 materialized their plan to join the already crowded air of free television service in the country.

Officials of Bimantara which, through its subsidiary PT Panca Andika Mandiri, has paid US$9.32 million to acquire 70 percent of GlobalTV earlier this year, expect a bigger design to grab the country viewerships.

While RCTI serves as a general entertainment station and MetroTV for news, GlobalTV is to provide service for 15-29 year- old viewers, the officials have said. All three channels are expected to capture 32-34 viewers' total shares in the country's free television landscape.

So, broadcasting or narrowcasting doesn't really matter. What matters is the total viewerships.