'MTV' tuning into the needs of fans with radio launch

By Hera Diani

JAKARTA (JP): Last Saturday night at Bengkel Night Park, South Jakarta, some 5,000 teenagers crowded the indoor concert arena, with their dazzling dyed hair, cargo pants, capri pants, tank tops and tube tops.

Most of them were high school and college students. But preteens of elementary school age, who were escorted by their parents or their elder siblings, were also in evidence.

Self-conscious celebrities strolled by, greeting each other with pecks on cheeks and genteel caresses as a posse of reporters, cameramen and photographers milled around them.

At 8:30 p.m., local rock band Padi -- whose music brings to mind that of U2 -- came on and played their hits on a T-shaped stage, with a huge MTV logo providing the background.

After performing for around one hour, Padi was replaced by another new-on-the-scene group, Sheila on 7, which has been in great demand recently.

The audience reacted in a somewhat muted fashion, swaying slightly to the beat and singing along with the lyrics, until Sheila finished up its performance.

The situation changed dramatically as the masters of ceremonies Indra Safera and Sarah Sechan invited the much awaited guest star to the stage, the California-based band Save Ferris.

As the seven members of the band appeared, the audience rushed to the edge of the stage to the mosh-pit, and commenced pogo-ing to the ska rhythm the band was playing.

They went even wilder as Save Ferris' vocalist, Monique Powell alias Mo, twisted her voluptuous body, crawled on stage, showed a bit of her undies and dirty-danced with the guitarist.

That was just what the testosterone-charged teenage boys really needed.

All of the acts that night were there to mark the official launching of MTV Radio on Sky 101.6 FM.

Yes, you can not only watch 24-hours of music videos on the box, but you can listen to it on the radio also.

"The idea is for MTV fans to be able to enjoy MTV programs anywhere they like, whether it's in their cars, in the kitchen or even in the bathroom," said Meuthia Kasim, the general manager of PT Radio Suara Kejayaan, owner of MTV Radio at a media conference in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, South Jakarta, the previous day.

According to Meuthia, or Mukas as her staff refer to her, it is the first MTV radio in Asia, and the second in the world after Brazil.

"But unlike MTV radio in Brazil, which is directly managed by MTV, MTV 101.6 is a franchise of MTV Southeast Asia which acts as supervisor," she said.

The franchise did not go cheap, of course, as the investment involved amounted to more than Rp 3.5 billion (US$0.4 million).

Under the terms of the agreement, the company also has to establish five other MTV radio stations within five years and these are planned for Bandung, West Java; Semarang, Central Java; Yogyakarta; Surabaya, East Java and Medan, North Sumatra.

Meuthia, however, is very optimistic about the venture.

"Given MTV's world-famous brand and its millions of viewers, we were prepared to pay 50 percent in up front," she said, adding that the investment will probably be recouped within three years.

This is probably not empty talk either as Meuthia has a long pedigree as a radio personality.

She commenced her career spinning discs for Prambors Radio, a radio station popular with young people. Her career then took off and she is now also a director of Hard Rock FM, the first Hard Rock Cafe radio franchise, as well as being a TV presenter.

MTV Radio itself is under the same management as Hard Rock FM which bought Suara Kejayaan (SK) Radio earlier this year and transformed it into MTV Radio.

But Meuthia denied that MTV Radio, which has already been on the air since February, relied exclusively on brand image.

"No. This is, in fact, a challenge for us to prove ourselves as successful as the TV channel," she said.

The radio station, which is aimed at listeners aged between 15 and 25 years old, has seemingly already gained some of its targeted audience.

"I used to always listen to other radio stations. But now, I listen to MTV radio. Its got cooler songs," said Aji, a sophomore at SMU 61 senior high school who came all the way from Bekasi to watch Save Ferris.

MTV radio plays hip and popular music. The programs and the music are mainly those which appear on the television channel, such as MTV Asia Hit List and Getar Cinta (Love Beat).

Calling their listeners "MTV Freaks", the radio station's motto is "Freakin' It".

"It means 'to be cool'," Meuthia said.

According to Meuthia, the biggest challenge in establishing the radio was finding suitable human resources. Nevertheless, she was quickly able to find enough young people with a 'dare-to-be- different' attitude. Some are already celebrities, like MTV VJ Sarah Sechan, model Teuku Firmansyah and singer Cindy Fatikasari.

All of the staff are already fluent in English.

"English is a must. It will ruin the whole image if our announcers' English is poor. I mean, it's MTV!" she said.

All of the radio crew who attended the news conference were indeed freakin'. Trendy and good looking, they all speak perfect American English.

Like Nirina, 21, or DJ Nirina as she is now known. She said she gained her English by spending several years abroad, following her father who is an official with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

When asked whether she wants to become a MTV VJ someday, she flashed her best smile, showing colorful braces.

"Yes, I'd love to. Very much," she said.

Meanwhile, back on stage at the Bengkel, Mo suddenly stopped singing, and asked whether the audience understood English.

She then asked those who understood English to explain to others what she was about to say.

It went: "It is not okay..(pause) to spit on people.. (pause).. (shouting) especially on women! And if any of you do that again I swear to God I'm going to rip you f--king head off...!!!!".

Then Mo continued to sing the last two songs before she and her band rushed off stage.

Outside, parents were waiting to pick up their children. Little did they know that their offspring had learned a couple of new English words, such as a "freakin'" way.