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.