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.