Local TV networks told to reduce foreign programs

Local TV networks told to reduce foreign programs

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Information Harmoko yesterday urged
all local television networks to cut down on the number of
foreign programs and to promote local products.

In a speech during a thanksgiving ceremony to mark the 32nd
anniversary of the state-owned TVRI, Harmoko warned that the
government would not hesitate to punish networks which failed to
promote domestic programs.

Besides the foreign television programs, the criticism was
also leveled at the brief video clips of pop and rock songs which
are aired by virtually all the five networks to fill in the
commercial time.

Harmoko said the broadcasting companies must be more selective
in choosing the foreign programs, taking into account the
national interests. Broadcasters should not simply be motivated
by profit, he added.

His remarks lent credence to the growing criticisms over the
past year of the increasing domination of foreign programs on
Indonesian television networks. Critics were concerned about the
cultural intrusion as well as the increasing amount of sex and
violence portrayed in many of these programs.

The deregulation of the television industry in 1989 has
spawned stiff competition for audiences and also for advertising
revenues. Four private networks have been established since then
-- RCTI, TPI, SCTV, and ANteve -- to compete with TVRI, now no
longer enjoying the monopoly it once had. A fifth network,
Indosiar Visual Mandiri, plans to start broadcasting next month.

Harmoko said that the television networks have a
responsibility to promote national stability.

Programs which could potentially lead to unrest should be
scrapped, he said without mentioning any particular program.

Failure to select programs which are not in accordance with
national values could lead to break-ups, he said.

He said the networks should be more sensitive in selecting
their programs and understand the audience's limit of tolerance.

The era of openness should not be interpreted as freedom to
present programs at will, he added.

He said the networks must not let Indonesia become the "waste
basket" for the West's culture.

Specifically for TVRI, Harmoko said the network which has the
largest scope compared to the private networks, also has a duty
to promote the Indonesian language.

The state-owned network should ban programs which do not use
Bahasa Indonesia correctly.

Television should be seen also as a tool for education and not
simply for entertainment, he added.

TVRI director Azis Husein said in his report that the network
can now reach nearly 80 percent of Indonesia's 180 million people
with the support of 12 broadcasting stations, one production
station, eight mobile stations and 329 transmission units.

He said that 14 new transmission stations would be built in
the coming year.

TVRI's prime source of revenue is still the television fees
collected annually from TV owners. The network also receives
royalties from all the private networks.

Meanwhile, RCTI president director A. Rallie Siregar, who
attended the ceremony, told reporters that the network's plan to
go public is now going full steam.

The Capital Market Supervisory Board is currently studying the
financial position of RCTI, he explained. "One of the reasons to
go public is to purchase the equipment for the studios," he
added.

Director General of Radio, Television and Film Alex Leo
Zulkarnain said the Ministry of Information is also studying
RCTI's plan to go public, and its main concern is to ensure that
the network's shares do not fall into foreign hands.

The media industry is one of the few sectors that are still
closed to foreign investors. (par)