'JakTV' aims at the young, educated
'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)