'JakTV' aims at the young, educated
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
New privately owned television station JakTV is not for the average viewer.
Its programming is heavy with lifestyle and entertainment shows, covering topics ranging from fashion to music, but do not expect to hear the familiar dangdut tunes that dominate other stations.
"JakTV reaches out to people in the educated middle to upper economic brackets, or what we call the 'AB plus'. We try to provide them with a balance of programs between entertainment and education," JakTV director Erick Thohir told The Jakarta Post recently.
Erick said this target audience had strong purchasing power, cosmopolitan lifestyles and sought out entertainment.
He said the established local and national TV stations broadcasting from Jakarta did not meet the needs of this group, which includes expatriate residents, foreign entrepreneurs and tourists.
JakTV brand management and communications division manager Mita Nurani said the station's core audience was between the ages of 16 and 40.
JakTV, which received its business license at the end of 2002, did a year of market research on its target market segment before it began technical preparations in 2004.
The TV station began broadcasting on March 28 and is heavier on entertainment programs than news. It is currently broadcasting daily from 12:30 p.m. to 1 a.m., but plans to expand these hours.
Erick said news accounted for just 10 percent to 15 percent of the station's total programming. Locally produced programs make up 30 percent of the station's programming.
For its news programs, JakTV looks for angles and stories that will appeal to its target audience.
"We are not producing news programs that deliver information about what is happening outside of Jakarta. We provide viewers with crime news, such as white-collar crime, a child missing from a mall or an empty house that has been burglarized," said Erick.
The entertainment programs are dominated by music shows heavy on jazz, blues and pop. The station also airs movies and reality shows.
Mita said JakTV's international programs mostly came from the U.S., Europe and Asia. Foreign films and international programs are not dubbed into Indonesian.
Some of JakTV's local programs are Satu Indonesia, a talk show that features live musical performances, Exploring Jakarta, two- minute blurbs providing information about historical sites in Jakarta, and Key to Success, which presents the success stories of local entrepreneurs.
JakTV is 50 percent owned by Electronic City Indonesia Group, 25 percent by PT Abdi Bangsa Tbk. and 25 percent by Erick, with a total investment of Rp 150 billion.
"That is the biggest investment among local TV stations," Erick said.(001)