Private TV stations gearing up for tough competition
Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The addition of two more private stations -- TV7 and Trans TV -- means that a total of nine television channels are now crowding the airwaves. Two more stations, Lativi and Global TV, are expected to follow suit by the end of this year.
With so many different channels, including state-owned TVRI, the competition for advertising will certainly become a headache for the stations.
But the Indonesian Advertising Agencies Association (P3I) chairman, RTS Masli, said the total advertising industry was expected to grow by 30 percent in 2002 from the current Rp 9.717 trillion (US$934.3 million).
Sixty two percent of last year's total advertising (Rp 7.889 trillion) went to TV. The figure is predicted to grow to Rp 12.06 trillion next year.
Still, TV stations need to create more attractive programs to win their share of the advertising market.
"If any station has popular programs, the ads will find it, instead of the other way round," he said.
Despite the promising profits, TV channels must not neglect their social mission to help educate viewers, said Bachtiar Aly, a media expert from the University of Indonesia.
For the past few years, the country's television stations have seemed to lack vision, he said, as they have allowed themselves to become trapped into making similar programs to their rivals.
"Ideally, a television channel should have certain characteristics derived from creativity ... market tendencies can be controlled by the media," Bachtiar said. "As there are more options for viewers now, hopefully TV stations will increase their competitiveness in winning viewers by increasing the quality of their programs."
The existing private TV stations are mostly owned by conglomerates such as the Bimantara group, which is the major shareholder in RCTI, Trans TV, MetroTV and the upcoming Global TV. TV7 is owned by the Kompas-Gramedia Group and ANteve by the Bakrie group. Indosiar is partly owned by the Salim group, SCTV by the Rajawali group and TPI by the Citra group, while Lativi belongs to the A. Latief corporation.
All 11 stations will soon have to prepare for tougher competition by maintaining high standards and reaching out to new audiences with more innovative programs and program packaging, while closely monitoring market demand.
RCTI would expand its audience, which is now dominated by middle to upper class viewers, to the lower-income bracket, said Teguh Juwarno, RCTI's public relations manager.
The station believes it derives a competitive advantage from its network of relay stations that enable its programs to be received nationwide.
"We see new emerging TV stations as a serious challenge, but it's positive because the more players there are, the healthier the competition," he said.
As for SCTV, it will react to market demand surveys, the results of which are seen every week, while at the same time relying on its prime programs, particularly Liputan 6, a news program that has won many more viewers than other similar shows.
"We must prevent our viewers from being bored with our programs. Therefore we'll gain a competitive edge by accommodating their expectations," said SCTV public relations manager, Budi Darmawan. "In this new, competitive era, only the most creative will survive."
Meanwhile, Indosiar spokesman Gufroni Sakarin said his station - which carried the most advertising, with 27 percent of total revenue - was optimistic about coping with the challenge, as it had many programs that accommodated every segment of the viewing population.
Indosiar also plans to build more relay stations to achieve wider coverage.
Expectations are conveyed by viewers to the TV stations.
"Most channels only offer wall-to-wall local or imported soap operas. I'd like to see programs that are both entertaining and informative," said 25-year-old Lovita Indah Sari, a private company employee.
She admitted that she still followed certain sinetron (Indonesian soap operas), but sometimes got fed up as most of them had similar, simplistic plots involving either love affairs or adultery.
Another viewer, Erwin Sugiharto, 33, said he expected to see more unbiased news coverage, as he viewed some channels as being partial toward certain individuals or organizations.
"It's sometimes difficult for viewers to gain an objective view of a particular matter as parts of the news are edited to suit the interests of a certain group," he said.