New television channel launched

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A new Jakarta-centric television station, O Channel, has been launched and will focus on entertainment and lifestyle programs, its owner says.

O Channel -- "Jakarta's own channel" -- is broadcast from the Sarinah Building in Central Jakarta and first went on air in August.

The MRA Media Group-owned channel is currently only available on a restricted basis and will go to full broadcast around Central and Greater Jakarta by mid-next year.

Trial programming on 33 UHF has commenced, with the station screening celebrity promos, testimonials and music videos. Content will be gradually expanded until its full-broadcast launch next year.

"We believe that O Channel will bring an entirely new standard and viewing experience," Mutia Kasim, a company director and the project head, said.

"This channel is concerned with Jakarta, the city and its people and will change the way we watch and think about television."

Mutia is also the managing director of the MRA Broadcast Media Division, which runs nine radio stations in Indonesia, including Hard Rock FM Jakarta, Surabaya and Bali, MTV Sky in Jakarta, Semarang and Yogyakarta and Cosmopolitan FM in Jakarta.