Local TV missing out on documentary opportunities

By Antariksawan Jusuf

JAKARTA (JP): Remember when the cliche-ridden issue of "violence on television" heated up years ago? Violent programs are a bad influence on children said those against. Television can be used to positive ends and the ball is in our court said those for.

Time has moved on and the pendulum seems to be swinging back toward those for. In the past, television programmers believed a schedule full of documentary programs was the recipe for a ratings disaster.

Now, the situation has changed and documentaries are being held up as a category of program which can replace violence and at the same time entertain and educate viewers. Documentary programs on anything from accidents to animals, people to politics, to name but a few, have slowly become hot stuff.

Two major film and television programming markets, MIP TV and MIPCOM, have since 1997 reserved one day for educational programs to cater to the rising demand. The two markets, both held in Cannes, France, are a meeting place for buyers (mostly TV stations and distributors) and sellers (producers and distributors) of film and television programs from all over the world.

Viewers around the globe may not find documentary programs occupying all prime time slots in the near future, but for the time being it seems the trend is going in this direction.

It remains to be seen how Indonesian television stations react to this trend. Documentaries have never high on the list of scheduling priorities here as a result of their failure to capture a large audience.

The only station which adores this class of program is, unsurprisingly, the educational channel TPI, which gives documentary programs daily prime time slots.

During evening prime time, when television viewership is potentially at its highest, other stations such as RCTI, SCTV and Indosiar, have given top local drama serials established slots. It is difficult for TPI to compete during this period because it has a narrow viewership coverage as a result of its limited number of relay stations.

TPI's prime time is in the morning, when it uses the state-run TVRI's relay stations throughout the country for its broadcasts. Then, like all other stations, TPI broadcasts local serials and comedy.

TPI public relations manager, Theresia Ellasari, said the programs were chosen because they were "educational and at the same time entertaining."

Many have applauded TPI's decision to air documentary programs during the evening hours. Besides the low price for programming content, it provides viewers who find local serials boring and unattractive with an alternative. Among TPI's documentary programs are World of Wonder, Amazing Animals, Eye Witness and Wonder of Weather from the Discovery channel.

The station currently relies totally on imported documentary programs. "Our past experience with Pustekom (Center for Technology and Communication) shows that producing educational and entertaining programs is difficult and expensive," Ellasari said.

TVRI has a twice weekly slot for The Invention produced by the Smithsonian Institute. SCTV airs one documentary cum drama called Beach Patrol which features stories of beach accidents and is hosted by Beverly Hills 90210 star Ian Ziering. No documentaries are currently broadcast on RCTI and Anteve.

Indosiar, which took documentary programs such as Natural World and Time to Grow off the air last July, plans to screen a new documentary program in the near future.

"The ratings for such programs don't matter because they target A and B class viewers," station spokesman Andreas Ambessa said, adding that several viewers had called the station to urge it to air such programs.

The reluctance of commercial stations to broadcast documentaries is understandable. A vicious circle of small screen economies - ratings, advertising, revenue, program, scheduling - has brought this attitude to the fore. However it should not be forgotten that the publics taste in television programs can be engineered.

For television stations, documentary programs remain one of the lowest in cost, especially when compared to other kinds of imported programs like series, movies, sports and sitcoms. Local television stations should also work to produce their own documentaries. If they don't, foreign televisions stations will take all, and present Indonesia through their own eyes in the process. With a vast variety of culture, people, places, plants and animals, local station are certainly not short of tremendous material for documentary programs.

In May, the Ministry of Information granted seven foreign producers and stations permits to make documentaries on various subjects.

The projects include a documentary on the hotel industry and the environment in Bali by the English company Talent TV, a program on the people of Mentawai Siberut by Canal Plus of France, Japanese firms in Indonesia by Japan Broadcasting Corp., Jimbaran Hills Resort in Bali by Gold Coast Australia, life and people in Bali by NHK of Japan, orangutan conservation by Zebra Production England, and tourism in Bali and Lombok by The Channel.

So, what's next?