Malicak aims to provide 25 overseas TV programs

JAKARTA (JP): PT Matahari Lintas Cakrawala (Malicak), is looking for more foreign broadcasters for agency cooperation, says a spokesman for the company.

Malicak provides decoders for the subscription of overseas television broadcasting.

Rachmat Santoso said over the weekend that his company aims to increase the number of overseas television stations cooperating in the channeling of their broadcasting from five to 25 by the middle of 1996.

Malicak, a subsidiary of Indovision Group, is currently channeling five television programs, including the documentary and science channel, Discovery, Entertainment Sport Program Network (ESPN) International, Home Box Office (HBO), Cable News Network (CNN) International and TNT & Cartoon Network.

Rachmat says access to those five programs will be scrambled as of Dec. 15, three months later than planned.

Rachmat said Malicak is presently negotiating with MTV, a New York-based around-the-clock music cable network, and STAR TV of Hong Kong.

Subscribers need to own a parabola antenna, a receiver and decoder as well as pay subscription fees in order to have their television sets channeled to the foreign broadcasters' programs.

"We will increase subscription fees from US$410 to $500 per month," Rachmat said, adding that decoders are sold at Rp 4.35 million ($1,995) each.

Malicak already provides decoders for 15,000 individual subscribers and 15,000 hotel rooms, he said.

Malicak is owned by businessmen Peter F. Gontha, Henry Pribadi and Bambang Trihatmodjo, and a number of private companies.

The company expects to increase the number of its subscribers to 100,000 within the next two years.(icn)