Controls on TV stations attacked

JAKARTA (JP): Leading mass communications expert M. Budyatna has joined politicians of the minority parties in attacking the government's plan to limit the number of television stations.

"To set a limit is unfair," M. Budyatna, dean of the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

He pointed out that three of the country's five commercial television stations -- RCTI, TPI and ANteve -- are controlled by people who are also members of Golkar, the ruling political group. No stations are controlled by individuals associated with the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) or the United Development Party (PPP).

"The limitation would automatically favor Golkar," Budyatna said, adding that he suspected vested political interests were behind the government's move.

The plan is contained in a government-sponsored Bill on Broadcasting which the House of Representatives began deliberating this week.

Article 14 says that the number of private broadcasting institutions in any given area is limited by the government. An explanatory note states that the limitation is necessary to contain the negative impacts from having too many stations. Among the impacts cited include conflicting news reports, saturation of programs, disruptions to TV reception and unhealthy competition among broadcasters. It also says that too many stations would mean difficulties in controlling and supervising them.

Six TV stations are not enough for a country as large and as populated as Indonesia, Budyatna said. There should be at least one TV station in every big city, he added.

Some of the PPP and PDI politicians were the first to attack Article 14, and promise to give the government a run for its money during the deliberation of the bill in the House.

"The article seems intended to protect the current TV stations," Aisyah Aminy of the PPP faction said.

"We should be allowed to have more TV stations," said Aisyah, who chairs Commission I, which deals with information issues.

Marcel Beding of the PDI faction said his party will fight hard to ensure that the limitation is removed from the legislation, Antara reported.

Marcel challenged Minister of Information Harmoko's statement, made during the first reading of the bill in the House on Monday, that political parties cannot have their own stations.

"What's wrong with a political party owning broadcasting stations? The more TV stations we have, the better it is for the public," he said.

Harmoko, who represented the government during the first reading of the bill in the House, is also Golkar's chairman. His official capacity empowers him to control TVRI and the supervision of all the private TV networks.

Marcel argued that rather than seeking to control the number of TV stations, the government could regulate their broadcast content.

Both Budyatna and Marcel disputed the argument that setting a limit is necessary to ensure a healthy competition and avoid cut- throat rivalry among the stations.

Marcel said the article left the impression that the government has succumbed to pressures from existing stations to close the doors on newcomers.

Budyatna said there should be enough ad spending for many more TV stations in the country, given Indonesia's rapidly growing economy.

With the advent of free trade -- first within Southeast Asia in 2003, and later within the Asia Pacific region in 2020 -- more and more investors will be coming to Indonesia. They will be promoting their products through television, he said.

Consequently, "There should be no worry about declining ad revenue", he said. (01/emb)

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