New 'Ar-Rahman Channel' offers education and Islam

================ Luas Samudera Contributor Jakarta ---------------

Much has been said about the four novel television stations which grappled for their maiden broadcast last October. However, with far less publicity, a new kind of television service has been launched: Ar-Rahman, a free satellite television channel.

One of its shareholders, Budiman, said Ar-Rahman (Most Gracious) refers to one of the verses of the Koran in which telecommunications is mentioned.

But why Arabic, or an Islamic sounding name? The station has picked education and Islam as its main line of programming choice, said Budiman, president director of the firm which runs the station, PT Ar-Rahman Media.

"It started from a simple idea. We wanted to launch a business that covered subjects pertaining to both the worldly and the divine.

Budiman splits his ownership with long-time friend Eri Prabowo, a familiar name in the Indonesian television industry. Prabowo is an advisor to Quick channel and the founder of a dedicated all-Indonesian music channel I-music -- both are channels of pay-TV Indovision and Kabelvision.

Ar-Rahman programming will focus on education and Islam in a country where 80 percent of the population of 227 million are Muslims.

The idea of an Islamic education channel is not totally new. A similar service is available in the UK, Middle Eastern countries and the United States. U.S. cable television Islamicity boasts 2.5 million subscribers. But Budiman claims this is the first in South Asia and the Southeast Asia region.

"A broadcast trial commenced in early November," said Eri Prabowo.

Ar-Rahman will be beamed from Jakarta via Cakrawarta S-band satellite to receivers which will be installed in Islamic boarding schools throughout the country. The station targets to install 40 receivers in the schools within the first six months of next year.

According to Hasyim Muzadi, chairman of the largest Indonesian Muslim organization Nahdhatul Ulama, who hosted a meeting with Prabowo and Budiman, there are some 12,000 Islamic boarding schools in the country.

"From the traditionally run to the modern hi-tech school," Muzadi said.

As far as programming is concerned, Ar-Rahman will rely entirely on outsourcing, including from the existing free television stations such as RCTI, SCTV, TPI and Indosiar. As a part of their public service, these stations dedicate hours of their daily programming to Islamic programs, ranging from preaching, musical programs and even series.

Ar-Rahman will also import programs from Islam-based cable MTA of the UK, or Islamicity of the U.S., Budiman said.

"These (foreign) cable televisions broadcast varied and interesting programs. So we don't have to worry so much about the programing content," Budiman said.

An example of these programs is Adam's World, an animated program for kids, featuring a small kid learning to pray, to practice fasting and to show respect to others. There is also the story of Prince Salam which looks like Disney's Aladdin, but has Islamic overtones in the way the characters dress. Princess Jasmine, for example, wears a veil.

Ar-Rahman will also provide concepts for religious programs to new stations such as TransTV and LaTV. The station will not produce the programs themselves, citing reasons of efficiency and the opportunity to provide jobs for others. They will instead commission production houses to produce them.

Budiman said in the long run the station would also aim to attract cable customers in neighboring countries such as Malaysia via Astro and Brunei. The service expects to reach some 750,000 subscribers within the Islamic community.

And the project does not end only with television. Ar-Rahman will develop a website that can provide video streaming so that it can be accessed throughout the world.

The station has earmarked Rp 2 billion (US$200,000) as an initial investment which is expected to reach Rp 5 billion in the future, including the budget for the website.

The station hopes to reach a break-even point in the second year of operation.

An industry expert in cable industry, who requested anonymity, said the service would attract a bigger audience if it broadcasted through a regular free (non-subscription) television, instead of satellite television.

"There's a barrier. Not all potential Muslim customers can access the service. They have to buy a new satellite dish. That's their biggest hurdle," he said.