Private TV 'Indosiar' makes its debut today
Private TV 'Indosiar' makes its debut today
JAKARTA (JP): The country's fifth private television company, Indosiar, will make a glamorous debut today between 4 p.m and 1 a.m. in eight Indonesian cities: Jakarta, Ujungpandang, Semarang, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, and Medan.
President of PT Indosiar Visual Mandiri, Anky Handojo, told a press conference yesterday that the company would make a lavish entry into the market by broadcasting a live variety show staring 160 famous Indonesian artists.
Indosiar is owned by the Salim Group. The country's largest conglomerate, it is controlled by Sudono Salim, who is one of the world's richest men.
"We named the (opening) show Pesta, which stands for Pentas Sejuta Aksi, or 'the stage of a million spectacles'", Anky said.
He added that Pesta would be broadcast after the seven o'clock news tonight.
Tomorrow the company will screen the long awaited Sesal, a movie directed by controversial member of the House of Representatives Sophan Sophiaan. The film was shot in Europe.
Indosiar is scheduled to screen the American box office movie No Way Out on its third day, Arnold Schwarzeneger's Total Recall on its fourth and to close the five days celebration with another variety show called Bintang Indosiar, or "The Stars of Indosiar", on Sunday.
All of the movies and shows will be broadcast at 7:30 p.m.
During the press conference, Anky was bombarded with questions concerning the broadcasting company's decision to screen "Sesal", because the film has yet to be screened in Indonesian cinemas.
"It was the producer himself who came to us and offered to sell us the movie", Anky said.
He denied allegations that Indosiar's broadcasting of "Sesal" was calculated to show that the company has strong financial backing.
Anky said that for the time being Indosiar would broadcast its programs from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. the following morning on Saturdays and Sundays, and from 4 a.m.to 1 a.m. the following morning on the other days.
He said that for the next three months Indosiar is planning to follow the mainstream of Indonesian private television programming and, when it had understood public demand, would gradually develop its own distinctive style.
"We will follow the mainstream first, by presenting many programs which can be enjoyed by every body", he said.
According to Anky, 50 percent of Indosiar's scheduled programs are entertainment, while the remaining 50 percent consists of commercials, 20 percent, educational programs, 20 percent, and news, 10 percent.
Anky said that Indosiar's news department was still searching for the right presentation format and would not commence broadcasting until later.
"We are now still preparing the news department and we expect to broadcast our own news soon, since we have plenty of reporters and adequate equipment", Anky said.
He said 70 percent of the programs were imported, most of them from the United States.
"The remaining 30 percent are locals and we have prepared about six local television series which feature famous movie stars such as Ita Mustafa, Adjie Massaid, Rachmat Hidayat, Bella Esperance Lee and Remmy Sylado", Anky said.
He said that Indosiar is currently forming an artists pool. The artists who join the pool are bound to the company by a contract for about two years.
Anky said Indosiar would not ask other companies of the Salim Group to allocate a major share of their advertising budget to Indosiar. Other Salim Group companies include Indofood, the biggest instant noodle producer in Indonesia, or Indomobile, an automotive producer.
Indosiar will broadcast from its modern studio complex at Jl. Damai 11, in the Daan Mogot area, West Jakarta. The complex includes four large studios which cover 3,851 square meters, as well as a four-story building.(mas)