Media Convergence: The next step of the Internet Evolution
Media Convergence: The next step of the Internet Evolution
By Vishnu K. Mahmud
JAKARTA (JP): What a year it's been. We have seen a flurry of
Internet sites both here and abroad from the beginning of the
year. Net stocks rocketed up in the Nasdaq stock exchange making
thousands of "paper" millionaires. Venture Capitalists began
pouring money around the world hoping for the next Amazon.com or
Yahoo! Then the stock market corrected itself and the dot coms
started to crash and burn. What's next for the Internet? Is
this the end for the dot coms?
Some dot coms today look like body builders; they have massive
muscles but no real strength, remarked Peter F. Gontha, President
Commissioner of PT. Jaring Data Interaktif (JDI). He made this
observation during the signing ceremony marking the partnership
of JDI, IndoExchange.com and Kemana.com.
Basically, dot coms today can no longer rely on hype, venture
capital or banner ads to support their enterprise, much less take
them to their Initial Public Offering (IPO). Internet companies
must have adequate revenue streams, controlled expenses, and a
definite target market (not just vague demographic studies).
The Internet market in Indonesia is still rather small for
local dot coms to survive on. Advertisement revenues alone cannot
support the various operational costs since less then 1 percent
of the Indonesian population has access to the internet. Costs
for the Internet (and telephone charges) are still prohibitively
high for the masses to get the free information that is available
online. JDI, IndoExchange and Kemana.com hope to change that.
The three companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
on Dec. 5 to begin extensive collaboration using various assets
they have in their portfolios. JDI is a multimedia Service and
Content Provider, with Internet Service Provider (ISP) Webs88.com
in their collection. Indoexchange.com has been internationally
recognized as the leading Indonesian Business and Financial
Portal. Kemana.com is an innovative consumer portal, offering an
interactive experience that saves its users time and money, while
keeping them informed with product and pricing information.
Together, these three companies hope to transcend the Internet
and reach out to a bigger audience. JDI has a massive portfolio
of media companies that includes a newspaper, a few TV stations
(cable only SWARA, which broadcasts live sessions of the MPR/DPR
and the Quick Channel, dedicated to the capital and financial
markets of Indonesia), as well as Indovision, one of Indonesia's
Pay TV companies. Mr. Gontha hopes to efficiently use all this,
with the help of Kemana and IndoExchange, to help educate and
entertain Indonesia.
Sachin Gopalan, Kemana.com's Technical Advisor, stated that
the portal always wanted to be more then just a dot com company.
With this agreement, Kemana hopes to produce radio and television
programming in the near future with the Kemana.com content and
branding. Not only that, but the portal is also open to other
media outlets such as magazines, newspapers, and venues
(parties/conventions). "The Internet," Sachin says "is just one
media of communication."
This joint venture is a signal of how Internet companies can
survive. So many have focused solely on the net that they forget
that there are other outlets that can reach their audience.
Other revenue streams such as print media, radio, professional
Internet hosting services, consulting and multimedia productions
can help the bottom line. And partnerships are key. One can
never endure this dog-eat-dog world of cyberspace without having
adequate strength (instead of just looking strong).
The Internet has always been about communication. Many
websites see it differently and focus their entire existence on
IPOs, stock equity and fast cars. That era of the easy venture
capital and millionaire CEO is now over. What can be done now is
to focus on products and services that can be of use (and
profitable) as any professional business would want to establish.
It will only be a matter of time before we have Dick Tracy like
watches on our wrists or paper thin pads that constantly connect
us to the net, cable TV or newspapers. The partnership of these
three Indonesian companies is but one step toward that direction;
it's not about radio, the Internet or TV any more, it's about all
media.(vmahmud@yahoo.com)