'MTV Asia' presents 24-hour 'MTV Indonesia'

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With an invitation similar to that of one for a wedding, a room decorated with young coconut leaves and a "bride and groom" (local VJs Shanty and Arie) dancing to the tune of Pink's Get The Party Started, MTV Network Asia introduced on Thursday the 24- hour MTV Indonesia channel.

Starting on May 1, the new channel will begin broadcasting in five cities -- Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya and Medan -- through a free broadcast that can be picked up by anyone with an antenna.

The whole wedding atmosphere of the event referred to the joint venture between MTV Asia and local UHF broadcaster Global TV, a new unit of the PT Bimantara Citra group.

The latter is the owner of RCTI and a shareholder of the all- news station Metro TV.

The collaboration marks MTV Asia's break with local TV station ANteve, which currently broadcasts the music channel 37.5 hours a week, or some five hours a day.

"We still have a good relationship with ANteve. It's just that being broadcast 24 hours a day is what we were designed for. Given the fact that ANteve is a general entertainment channel, we can't push for more (hours)," said Peter Bullard, senior vice president and managing director of MTV Southeast Asia and the MTV Network Group.

Business-wise, broadcasting only five hours a day is not quite profitable, as it costs some 80 percent of the 24-hour production costs.

"The problem in delivering 24 hours program is there is a lack of bandwidth. There's virtually no cable penetration in Indonesia. So we felt this was the only way to go," Bullard said.

MTV Indonesia is MTV's eighth 24-hour channel in Asia and its 35th in the world.

The move follows a similar, smaller deal reached in the Philippines in January last year.

"We have a fantastic joint venture in the Philippines. It has been a huge success by any measure. Within a year, revenue has increased sixfold," Bullard said.

"That gave us the confidence to do what we are doing here, with a much bigger market."

A bigger market, indeed, and one with a great deal of potential.

From four million viewers on ANteve in 1995, the first time MTV was broadcast here, recent figures estimate the number of MTV viewers in Indonesia is 16 million households.

A recent survey by Asia Market Intelligence and Bates Advertising showed that MTV was the "coolest" brand among teenagers in Indonesia.

And an Indonesia Peoplemeter survey by AC Nielsen confirmed that MTV is the most popular music channel in the country, reaching 75 percent of the audience between the ages of 15 and 34 every month.

The new channel is expected to reach some 15 million households in the five cities it will be broadcast in, with more cities eventually being covered by the channel.

That means the channel will initially reach fewer households than ANteve's MTV broadcasts, but it will not be limited to a few hours a day.

"In the short term, we are giving up some potential reach. But for us, the gain is long term, being able to deliver 24 hours a day, seven days a week," Bullard said.

The channel is also promising more local content, with additions to the current eight local MTV programs.

According to MTV Indonesia creative and content director, Carl Zuzarte, local audience respond more to local program.

"It's an ongoing process and we won't just rush into it. The challenges are how to produce more suitable and relevant programs for a local audience. But wait for June 1, the whole look will be different. It will distinguish itself from other MTV Asia channels," Zuzarte said, adding that there will be new VJs as well.

But what will be the impact, really, for the people of Indonesia, besides being able to spend more time watching Britney Spears' midriff?

Zuzarte said that it would become a revolution in creativity, while Bullard asserted that the channel would provide new opportunities for those in the music industry.

"It touches lots of different areas. (Music) labels, artists .... I don't think it will be a revolution, but it's the opportunity that we offer," Bullard said.