'Good programs first, then fees'

State television channel TVRI is mulling reinstating monthly license fees for TV owners in order to collect the funds it needs to become a public broadcaster in late 2005. Under the fund- raising scheme, TV owners who fail to pay the fees would have their electricity temporarily disconnected. The Jakarta Post asked some residents what they thought about the idea.

Grace Sianipar, 32, is a housewife. She lives in Bekasi, east of Jakarta:

It's a ridiculous idea, TVRI did not subsidize the purchase of our TV set, and no one is watching the channel anymore.

If the government insists on enforcing the policy and cuts the power to my house, then it would be a return to the dark ages.

It's not that I don't understand the financial woes that TVRI is facing, but as it is now an enterprise it should try harder to be profitable. Hiring professional program directors, running commercials or quality programs are just some of the things it could do to survive.

Do you think TVRI would be any better off going public?

Leo Wisnu Susapto, 33, works as a journalist with Investor magazine. He lives in the Green Garden housing complex in Cakung, North Jakarta:

If TVRI imposes the license fee, it must improve its quality, which I doubt it could.

I remember that between 1992 and 1996, when I was still a student in Bandung, it imposed fees on viewers. I paid Rp 16,000 (US$1.7 with current currency) per month at that time, if I'm not mistaken. But, no improvement has been shown.

It is my concern that the channel fails to produce creative programs. It once produced programs that were able to attract more viewers, like Dansa yo Dansa (Come on Dance) or other TV quizzes thanks to Ibu Ani Sumadi.

I think it is not fair to give TVRI the privilege to impose the fee, while private TV stations, whose programs we watch everyday, do not get a similar opportunity. The fact is that I seldom watch TVRI's programs.

--The Jakarta Post