Local television stations develop at fast pace in Greater Malang area
Local television stations develop at fast pace in Greater Malang area
ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
The "main room" of "Agropolitan Cafe" is scattered with cables,
lamps and chairs. Staff move around the room and slowly tidy it
up. Some others paint the "cafe" tables and chairs so that they
look nicer.
"After this work, I hope the cafe will look beautiful,"
Widarngresti, a television host, told Rudy Kurniawan, the program
director of Agropolitan Cafe.
Rudy, who led the set redecoration, nodded.
This was part of the activities at a studio in Agropolitan
Televisi (ATV) on Jl. Sultan Agung, Batu, Malang. The television
station is one of five local television stations broadcasting in
the Greater Malang area, which comprises Malang municipality,
Malang regency and the town of Batu. The other four TV stations
are Malang TV, Mahameru TV, Gema Nurani TV and Batu TV. According
to a social observer at Airlangga University in Surabaya, Henry
Subiakto, the development of business television in Greater
Malang area was amazing. "Greater Malang is not a province, yet
it has five TV stations," he said.
The TV business in Greater Malang is moving at an even faster
pace than in Surabaya, the capital of East Java province, where
Greater Malang is located. In Greater Malang, five local
televisions serve 3,968,000 people while some 2.6 million people
in Surabaya are served by the only local TV station, namely Jawa
Timur TV (JTV).
The development of the television business in Greater Malang
is considered an achievement, in conjunction with National
Television Day which falls on August 24.
Local television in Greater Malang began in March 2003 when a
businessman Andri Hudiono set up Batu TV. The local television
station grabbed the attention of the locals as people began to
look for alternative television programs. "People have seen
national TV for a long time and they need to see the alternative
programs offered by local television," said Andri.
As the presence of a local TV station was a success, other
businessmen followed suit and later four other television
stations were born in Greater Malang.
Station Manager of Agropolitan TV, Hariyadi, said that the
station positioned itself as a local government television. "We
promote programs that will and are being carried out by the Batu
municipal government as we are managed and funded by the Batu
government," said Hariyadi. Although it is a government
television station, Agropolitan TV is very innovative. Out of the
52 programs it airs per week, some 80 percent are produced by the
Agropolitan TV crew. The station broadcasts between 9 a.m and
11:05 p.m. and has a 1,000 square kilometer coverage. "Our own
television programs are probably the largest compared to other
television stations in Greater Malang," said Hariyadi.
The programs range from programs for children, news and local
cultural performances.
The presence of local TV stations has provided jobs for
locals, as one TV station requires a workforce of at least 60
people, said president director of Mahameru TV, Henny Elvandari.
The number of employees, however, is much fewer than the
number in a television station that broadcasts nationwide which
can number more than 1,000. The revenue from ads is also smaller
as the cost of a 30 second ad is between Rp 150,000 (US$15) and
Rp 500,000, much below the cost of ads put on national television
which could cost advertisers millions of rupiah.
Despite the small revenue and number of staff, the presence of
local television stations can help educate and entertain people.
"I am fond of watching programs on local television because I
want to know on what is happening in my town," said Siti, a
resident of Malang regency.