Radio stations innovate to survive

Radio stations innovate to survive

By Johannes Simbolon and Rita A. Widiadana

Despite earlier fears, radio broadcasting, the oldest of all
electronic mass media, is alive in Indonesia. Aware of tight
competition from television, radio stations continue to innovate
and adopt hi-tech systems to remain on air. The following article
and several others on Page 3 describe efforts made by commercial
radio stations to survive and what they have done to boost their
audiences.

JAKARTA (JP): Your are driving along in your car and listening
to a CD when your favorite ABBA song is suddenly interrupted by a
news flash that a nearby street is underwater. You take the next
right to avoid the flood, merrily returning to lip synching
Xanadu.

There is nothing wrong with the CD player, it is just the
latest development in radio technology to enter Indonesia. Called
Radio Data System (RDS), it has many amenities including the
emergency warning facility. The facility allows automatic access
to news flashes without having to manually switch on the radio.

Only a few Indonesian radio stations, one of which is Radio
Sonora, operate the system. To access the service, an RDS
receiver must be tuned to an station with RDS.

RDS receivers have long been available in Jakarta at prices
ranging from Rp 600,000 to Rp 3.1 million (US$257 to $1,330). The
brands include Blaupunkt, Philips and Grundig.

In the near future, said Sonora director Jos Tanubrata, the
service could offer a security system against theft. A stolen car
which has the RDS system can be shut down by the radio station.
That way, the radio station will be able to locate your car.

"We are heading towards that kind of technology," Jos told The
Jakarta Post.

Indonesian radio stations are gearing up for a period of tight
competition against audio-visual media, which has proven more
attractive than radio broadcasting. Radio stations have to
develop themselves, continuously define their hardware and
software, and find market segments left untouched by television.
Otherwise, both audiences and advertisers will abandon radio.

Satellite

Although many radio stations have survived the tight
competition, very few listeners understand how the stations have
managed. Audiences are better informed about developments in
visual technologies than about radio broadcasting.

To start with, radio stations have switched from the AM
(Amplitude Modulation) to FM (Frequency Modulation). The latter
has clearer sound but covers a narrower area than AM radio. The
exodus started in 1982, and, of the 674 radio stations in
Indonesia today, 275 are FM stations. Only 8 of the 38 radio
stations operating in Jakarta are AM.

"The FM frequency in Jakarta is already full. No more stations
are allowed to move in," Purnomo, the chief executive of the
Indonesian National Private Radio Station Association, told the
Post.

Purnomo owns Safari, a station specializing in cultural
programs and the last to switch to FM in Jakarta.

The AM exodus was followed by a series of hardware
innovations.

The RDS system was one of the innovations to make it to
Indonesia. Another one was satellite broadcasting, first
attempted by Trijaya FM two years ago. It relayed live music from
News Cafe through 10 receiver stations outside of Jakarta.
Unfortunately, the government forbids radio stations from
broadcasting on a nationwide scale.

"By using a satellite, we were staging a national broadcast,
which is denied to private radio stations," said a staffer at
Trijaya.

Chapter 4 of the Information Ministerial Decree No. 39 issued
in l971, includes general policy guidelines on the operation and
programming of private radio stations. The decree stipulates that
private radio stations are local in character.

Some radio stations also employ advanced AM stereo technology,
which produces as clear a sound as FM stereo and blankets a wider
area. Radio stations with AM stereo capability include Lita Sari
in Cimahi, West Java; Veritas in Manado, and K. Manek in Dili.
Unfortunately, AM stereo radio receivers are not available in
Indonesia so no one benefits from the technology.

Some stations plan to use FM digital technology to transmit
better, clearer sound than a compact disc. It is also immune to
any natural disturbances.

Broadcasters are confident the government will drop its stance
against new technology, which in the past killed Trijaya's
satellite broadcasting.

"The new bill on broadcasting, which is now being discussed by
the House of Representatives, does not prohibit the use of any
new technology," Purnomo said.

Networking

The management trend is toward networking. Small stations
attach themselves to a large station in a mutually-beneficial
scheme. In return, the large stations share their abundant
resources, experiences and good programs. They also look for
advertisements on behalf of the group and distribute the ads
among the stations. That way the small stations can focus their
budget on marketing and production.

Among the large networks are Prambors Network, led by
Prambors, and comprising 29 stations throughout the country; CPP
network, led by CPP, comprising 20 radio stations; and Trijaya
network, comprising 10 stations.

Other stations cooperate with foreign networks to foster
quality. TOP FM, a classical music specialist, cooperates with
WCLV from Cleveland, a leading classical radio station in the
U.S. TOP FM cooperates with Media Network Consolidated, which
operates 10 radio stations.

Small-budget radio stations were initially suspicious of the
networking trend. They feared they would be gobbled up by large
stations, leading to the conglomeration of broadcasting.

Such fears seem to have evaporated. The broadcasting bill is
not against the trend either.

"The networks help small stations to survive," Purnomo
claimed.

The tight competition and varied demands from listeners have
forced radio stations to focus on one particular segment of the
market. Prambors, for example, targets young people, while Kayu
Manis still broadcasts radio plays, which made it famous in the
past. Sonora's traffic news flashes target upper middle-upper
class listeners stuck in there cars, and Safari airs cultural
programs. CBB specializes in dang-dut songs, while M 97 FM goes
to the other end of the music spectrum and plays classic rock.
FeMale radio is obviously dedicated to a female audience.

In the past, when radio plays were king, almost all radio
stations broadcasted the plays. Today, talk shows and quizzes are
the thing, with almost all wavelengths being dedicated to talk
shows during prime time.

Innovation has not helped radio stations increase advertising
dollars. Although advertising spending continues to increase
nominally, it has steadily decreased in terms of percentage. In
1991, radio stations received Rp 105 billion, or 12.6 percent of
the total Rp 835 billion spent on advertising in Indonesia. In
1992, the amount slid to Rp 100 billion, or 9.7 percent of the
total Rp 1,027 billion. In the 1993, Rp 113 billion was spent on
radio advertising but the percentage went down to 8.2 percent. In
1994, the amount rose to Rp 139 billion but the percentage
dropped to 6.1 percent. In 1995, total national advertising
expenditure rose to Rp 3,113 billion, of which only Rp 170
billion or 6.8 percent went to radio stations.

Television stations and the print media get the bulk of the
advertising funds. The television stations obtained 25.4 percent
of the total expenditures in 1991; the percentage increased to
48.3 percent in 1995. The print media, including newspapers
received 54 percent in 1991, which dropped to 39.1 percent in
1995 (see chart on page 6)

The limited revenues have not discouraged radio station
owners.

"Even in the U.S., where TV networks are much developed, radio
stations survive," Purnomo pointed out.