Private TV stations may reduce airtime
Private TV stations may reduce airtime
JAKARTA (JP): Private television stations may have to reduce
broadcasting airtime because advertising revenue is down due to
the economic slump, said TV executives.
Some stations are implementing austerity measures, including
canceling Idul Fitri bonuses for employees above a certain
income.
"We have been talking about the possibility (of reducing
airtime) since December," Zoraya Perucha, the corporate
communications manager of ANteve, said.
The corporate secretary of the Surya Citra Televisi Indonesia
(SCTV), Riza Primadi, said that executives of private television
stations had met to discuss the matter.
Zoraya was evasive about how much advertising revenue had
dropped since the onset of the monetary crisis, saying only that
the loss was "significant".
Riza said his company's advertising income had dropped "up to
50 percent beginning December, or simply, there's no growth".
Indosiar public relations manager, Andreas Ambessa, claimed
the company's advertising revenue had dropped about 20 percent
this month.
Public relations manager of Rajawali Citra Television
Indonesia (RCTI), Eduard Depari, estimated that the station's
advertising revenue had dropped about 40 percent since December.
All the TV executives agreed that airtime cuts could be
incorporated into their stations' austerity measures to cope with
increasing financial burdens caused by the crisis.
Of the four television stations, ANteve has the least airtime
with 10 hours of broadcast. The other three have an average 23-
hours of airtime a day.
Zoraya said her station was still trying to decide whether to
cut evening or morning broadcasts.
"We will, for instance, expand programs that have their own
sponsorship, like golf and automotive shows," she said.
She also said the management was canceling Idul Fitri bonuses
for employees earning more than Rp 3.5 million a month.
Zoraya said ANteve had surpassed its advertising revenue
target last August, but its income went down as the monetary
crisis deepened.
Depari said it was "still unpredictable whether the current
situation will persist".
"Advertisers, like sellers, are now adopting a wait and see
approach... (they are) uncertain about the situation," he said.
"Things could get better or worse."
Depari said advertising spending would have peaked during the
Moslem fasting month of Ramadhan had it not been for the monetary
crisis.
Meanwhile, Andreas Ambessa of Indosiar said he was pessimistic
about advertising spending growing normally in the next two or
three years.
"We never thought that after 30 years of enjoying growth,
things could suddenly change in only six months," he said.
He said his station's advertising revenue would probably be
less than last year, which was Rp 140 billion (US$18.70 million,
at the current rate).
Print media have also been hard hit in the economic slump. The
soaring of newsprint price accompanied by a drop in advertising
revenue have forced a number of publications to either reduce
pages or circulation, reduce publishing frequency, dismiss
employees or suspend publication.
The Association of Indonesian Newspaper Publishers had
predicted that if the situation continued, some 70 percent of
Indonesia's 286 publications might face bankruptcy.
Of the 286, 68 percent or 194 are published in Java with a total
circulation of 11.1 million copies a year, 89 percent of the
country's total circulation.
The price of newsprint supplied by PT Aspex, the country's
sole newsprint producer, has risen from Rp 1,390 per kilogram in
June to Rp 4,855 by early January because of the rupiah's
depreciation against the U.S. dollar. The rupiah closed around
8,450 per dollar in regional trade Friday, from around 2,400 six
months ago.
Among publications already affected in the economic downturn
and had to take some sort of austerity measures include dailies
Kompas, Suara Pembaruan, Media Indonesia, Kedaulatan Rakyat,
Bernas, and Suara Timor Timur. (aan)