SmartFM relaunched in Jakarta

JAKARTA: Amid tight competition among local radios, SmartFM Network was relaunched on Wednesday as a general news broadcaster in Jakarta.

Fachry Mohamad, the station's group chairman, said that the radio had already been operating on the 95.65 MHz frequency.

"Actually, we've been operating for seven years in Makassar, South Sulawesi; Palembang, South Sumatra; Balikpapan, East Kalimantan; Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan; Manado, North Sulawesi and Semarang, Central Java," he said at the launch.

Programs on the new radio, which will have to compete for market share with 45 other Jakarta FM stations, will be comprised of 75 percent general news stories and knowledge-based information, 20 percent entertainment -- mostly music -- and the remainder advertisements.

He said operations would stick to the principle that a radio broadcast is a motivator to boost the development of culture, economics and society for the good of the nation.

Fachry belittled the worry that radio was heavily competing for just five percent of the total Rp 9 trillion advertisement spending, saying that he was optimistic about getting advertisements.--JP