Local TV stations sell program abroad to survive

By Antariksawan Jusuf

JAKARTA (JP): Although still seen by some as just a penny- making industry, exporting television programs looks promising for local stations at a time when advertising revenues continue to free fall.

It could help contribute to the growth of local program productions. The question is, of course, whether the producers and stations are ready for wider markets and consider them an opportunity.

Bob Malkan, of the Indonesian educational station TPI international sales department, said selling Indonesian programs overseas may not be the bread and butter of stations but could serve as a way to overcome the drop of advertising spots at stations.

"It could provide cross-subsidy for the increasing costs of local programs," he said.

The average cost of a 60-minute Indonesian program ranges from Rp 50 million to Rp 125 million (US$5,000 to $12,500). The international rights of programs could sell for between $1,000 and $2,000.

Television sources said the economic crisis has caused a downward spiraled of advertising revenue -- the backbone of commercial stations -- to more than 50 percent. The five commercial stations, RCTI, SCTV, TPI, ANteve and Indosiar, are screening reruns, including locally produced series to avoid further losses. They are also reviewing their scheduling and purchasing plans for local programs, which has badly affected several production houses.

Malkan said the key to overseas markets was, "how to lobby and get to know the clients and their needs in programming." Malkan refused to disclose the hourly fee for the international rights of TPI's programs.

Besides opening a booth at the annual regional television programs market MIP Asia in Hong Kong in 1996, TPI has distributed its offered programs directly to potential buyers in Australia, Africa and Europe.

TPI has sold its music-based game show Kuis Dangdut to Japan's NHK; the drama series Desaku Bumiku to a Malaysian cable station; and a children program Klab Klip and a 60-minute series developed from a popular dangdut song Balada Dangdut to Singapore's TV12.

London Week Television of the UK purchased from TPI a talk show on supernatural phenomenon, Serambi. At home, the show was abandoned by the station due to a protest from the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI), which claimed the show was against the teachings of Islam.

TPI is currently negotiating to clinch a deal for its classical series developed from the radio drama Kaca Benggala with an Indian distributor for territories including Bangladesh, India and Nepal.

Instead of dubbing the programs into English, TPI provided English dialog sheets, translated from the original, and brochures.

RCTI has sold the first six episodes of drama series Si Doel Anak Sekolahan (Doel, The Graduate) and cooking program Selera Nusantara to TV12 Singapore, and its religious series Kubersujud and Selera Nusantara to Malaysian cable station Measat.

RCTI has turned down a request from an English station which was interested in purchasing its drama series Halimun, which features Paramita Rusady. The reason given was that the station could not provide an English-dubbed version of the series.

SCTV, which is currently considering exploiting its potential in overseas markets, has exported its talk show Dunia Bintang to TV12 of Singapore.

Even though RCTI and SCTV have marketed their programs overseas, they do not seem to have as a high an interest as TPI. Most of the successful deals for the two stations were at the initiative of the buyers.

Both Indosiar and ANteve, whose international rights of their local series are held by production houses, do not have records of selling their programs overseas.

Indosiar's head of public affairs, Andreas Ambessa, said the station was currently more interested in strengthening its presence at home than developing overseas markets.

Market

Each overseas market has its own unique challenge.

China, which has some 350 million households with televisions, needs programs related to Indonesian culture. A source at a production house which has a distribution affiliate in China cited Anak Seribu Pulau (Children of the Archipelago) and other documentaries on Indonesians as examples of programs in demand.

With a population of over one billion, China is the world's largest potential television audience market, as reported by Asia Television magazine in December.

A source at RCTI said Brunei Darussalam "welcomes all programs which have a religious touch". However, as a wealthy country, it refuses to broadcast reruns which have been enjoyed by viewers.

"They want to have fresh new programs that they have never seen on Indonesian television," the source said.

Skeptics such as RCTI's director, Alex Kumara, and Raam Soraya of Soraya Intercine Film have said that Indonesian programs are not attractive for global markets. Indonesian series do not depict a typical Indonesian culture, Kumara said as quoted in Pos Kota daily.

He also said that several Indonesian series were rejected because they were considered "inappropriate" because the way middle-aged women in the shows dressed was not in accordance with the common dress code in neighboring Southeast Asian countries such as Brunei and Malaysia.

Even the high-rating achiever Si Doel Anak Sekolahan failed to portray Indonesian culture, except for its Betawi dialect, Kumara said.

Soraya said low prices of international rights fees are in contrast with the high cost of dubbing. Soraya, who produces the sitcom Hantu Sok Usil and horror series Janda Kembang, said most foreign stations require Indonesian series to be dubbed into English before they make a deal.

"The cost of high-quality dubbing is more than the rights fee they are willing to pay. Say the rights cost is $1,000. The dubbing costs could reach up to $3,000 to $4,000."

During the peak of Indonesia's movie producing era, from 1987 to 1992, Soraya exported several movies, including Pembalasan Ratu Pantai Selatan (Lady Terminator), Bercinta Dengan Maut (Dangerous Seduction) and Ranjang Setan (Satan's Bed) to more than 15 countries.

To reverse this situation, Indonesian holders of international rights of television programs should realize that foreign markets could also be another source of revenue.

They should form a common sales force. The government may help set up this sales force and lobbying group but it must not give additional bureaucratic tables which could jeopardize the original aim.

The writer works for a private television station.