'Dangdut' music is a gold mine for local television stations

'Dangdut' music is a gold mine for local television stations

By Mohammad Yazid

JAKARTA (JP): Do you want to sing a note with Indonesian
singers and get Rp 1 million? Just join the live television
karaoke show Laris Manis, every Wednesday night on SCTV. Your
voice is not sweet? No problem. Pick up the phone and guess the
title of the song. If you are lucky you will win Rp 500,000.

Laris Manis, brought to you by presenters Ulfa Dwiyanti and
Derry Sudarisman, is a program dominated by dangdut music, which
is strongly influenced by a Hindi, Indian and Arabic beat. It is
one of the favorite television programs for dangdut lovers
throughout the country, as well as overseas -- some of the
callers are from as far away as Malaysia and Brunei.

"I've never missed the show. The guests are always prominent
and top singers," said Sutopo, a construction worker.

Dangdut music used to be associated with the lower classes.
But Laris Manis, which has been aired by SCTV since May 2000, is
only one example that the music appeals to a broad spectrum. In
fact, all of the country's television stations have their own
dangdut programs. This is a far cry from a decade ago.

If in the 1980s and 1990s, this kind of music could be seen
only on state-owned TVRI, and the dangdut was usually only 15
percent of music programs.

Now the five private televisions also present dangdut with the
music sometimes being broadcast in live performances.

TPI, which aims its programs at the middle to lower classes,
has featured dangdut since it began operations in 1991. Now the
station presents this type of music every day on such shows.

Besides Laris Manis, SCTV also has Sik Asik, which has been
aired on weekday mornings since January 1997.

Indosiar broadcasts Tak-tak-dut from Monday to Thursday,
Goyang Suka-suka on Monday night and Dangdut Ria on Sunday.

Meanwhile, ANteve features dangdut on several programs,
including MTV Salam Dangdut and TVRI broadcasts three dangdut
programs. RCTI airs only one dangdut program, JogeD.

Of course, all of these programs cannot be separated from
their advertisers, the source of their broadcasting funds.
Dangdut programs attract such large audiences that they have few
difficulties attracting advertisers. In fact, it would be no
exaggerations to say that dangdut is "a gold mine" for television
stations.

"The advertising for dangdut programs is always full," said
Almoenir Rahmat, a SCTV producer.

He declined to say how much money was made on the ads,
however, he said the rate for a 30-second spot on Laris Manis was
Rp 10 million. There are at least 24 ads run during this live
one-hour show. The program has another source of income as well;
the show's cosponsor pays Rp 1 billion for three months, or 13
episodes.

Compare the advertising rates on this show with the most
expensive rates in the business; the Rp 15 million it costs to
run a spot on some of the sinetron. Clearly, Laris Manis holds
its own quite nicely.

The ad rates for other dangdut programs depend on what time
the show is aired. Another one-hour program, Sik Asik, is
broadcast at 8 a.m. and does not charge advertisers as much, with
spots costing between Rp 4 million and Rp 6 million.

Theresia Ellasari, a TPI corporate communications executive,
is also quite high on the possibilities for advertising income on
dangdut shows.

While she declined to reveal how much advertising revenue was
brought in by the station's dangdut programs, she does not
protest when it is suggested the revenue could be as high as Rp
100 million. TPI's advertising rates are from Rp 5 million to Rp
15 million per spot, depending on the time of the show.

Advertising income can be even more when TPI broadcasts its
monthly live shows. According to Ellasari, "(Advertising revenue)
is enough to cover the (show's) budget of about Rp 200 million."

However, these numbers have not induced RCTI to air as many
dangdut programs as other stations.

"The most important thing is how to produce the show," said
Masitoh Hanum, a producer of JogeD, aired every Friday at 7:30
p.m. It is not surprising that since its launch, JogeD has been
the station's highest rated, tabloid Pro-TV reported in
September.

SCTV does not have a daily dangdut program because, as Munir
said, "We want to avoid the public impression that SCTV is a
dangdut station."

On the contrary, TPI is proud to feature dangdut every day.
"We are the pioneer of dangdut programming," Ellasari said. This
is deliberate, part of the station's plan to appeal to middle to
lower-class viewers. "Isn't dangdut from medium to low classes?"
she asked.

All of these programs have change the image of the music which
once was called kampungan music.

"It is very good", Jaja Mihardja, a dangdut singer, told The
Jakarta Post. "Those who said dangdut was kampungan was because
they were envious. Now these programs have proved that they were
wrong," said Jaja, the presenter of Kuis Dangdut for seven years.

"Generally, the programs have shown that dangdut is welcome in
society at large", said Rhoma Irama, the leader of the dangdut
music group Soneta and someone who has been involved in dangdut
since 1965.

He is happy "the music is no longer pinggiran (marginal). It
has entered high society".

For dangdut lovers, all of these programs have made it easy
for them to enjoy the music they love. Now they can sing and
dance with prominent dangdut singers such as Elvy Sukaesih, Rhoma
Irama, Rita Sugiarto and Mansyur S. in front of their television
sets every day, morning or night.