TV channels battle for ratings and revenue

JAKARTA (JP): The country's first commercial station RCTI, which was introduced 12 years ago on Aug 24, and SCTV, which was launched a year later, also on Aug. 24, find August the hottest month of the year.

Competition for prime time programming among Indonesian commercial TV stations has never been fiercer in this rating- obsessed industry with the ratings of the top 20 programs rarely going above 20 percent, thanks to the variety of programs introduced by the stations recently .

By definition, prime time is the most critical part of the day for a TV station. "This period offers the largest potential for viewership and greatest opportunity to compete with other networks for national viewing supremacy," says Richard Blum and Richard Lindheim in their book Primetime, Network Television Programming.

In Indonesia, prime time has been extended from between TVRI's news at 7.30 p.m. and 9.00 p.m. to between 7.00 p.m. and 10.00 p.m.

With the absence of a ministry of information -- closed by former president Abdurrahman Wahid in 1998 -- stations have been fighting tooth and nail for bigger viewership during prime time.

For this year's anniversary, RCTI and SCTV, to win viewers' hearts, are going head-to-head to air their best shows.

During this period, which began on Aug. 16, SCTV will be screening 10 blockbuster Hollywood movies, four Mandarin Jet Li movies and two locally produced comedies in addition to its live SCTV Awards.

On the other hand, RCTI has a lineup of five Hollywood blockbusters and five Mandarin theatricals. On the D-day of its anniversary, RCTI will present a special program called RCTI-ku RCTI-mu featuring several top local artists. This program will be aired one hour before SCTV Awards, which will also feature many popular artists.

The key to a station's success is keeping its content fresh.

Take for example Saturday evenings -- which was recording the lowest viewership and somewhat neglected by stations for years -- is now a hot pie for every station.

Defying viewers' outcry for taking out English Premier League's on Saturday night, SCTV has slotted in local series Kasih and Titip Rindu Buat Ayah instead. Locally produced serials with complicated plots have proven to have the highest viewership, which explains why RCTI introduced a new series Pernikahan Dini for the younger generation in the same slot.

This has put the series and the stations on top position respectively in its ratings and shares. However, RCTI only managed to maintain its position for a couple of weeks as Indosiar's introduction of Indian movies under the Mega Bollywood banner have taken the lead since then.

And for the first time in Indonesia's television history, an Indian movie -- Kuch Kuch Hota Hai -- recorded the highest rating of all the programs. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai achieved a 25 percent rating and pushed Pernikahan Dini from its number one position with a 22 percent rating to number 18 with only a 12 percent rating!

"We found a vacant slot on Saturday evening and we slotted in the Indian movies under Mega Bollywood and this coincidentally went head-on with Pernikahan Dini. But we let the viewers have the final say. It's their right to choose," Indosiar spokesman Gufroni Sakaril said.

"We treat our viewers as assets as their numbers also decide the number of commercials," said Muryadi Ikhsan of RCTI Public Relations department.

"Our strategy is simply to provide the best programs for the viewers," SCTV spokesman Budi Dharmawan said.

As a commercial station they share a common goal of earning the most revenue possible. Most advertisers want to reach the maximum number of viewers for their product.

AC Nielsen's record show that since Indosiar became the number one station in terms of rating, its revenue grew accordingly. (See table).

And growing advertising revenue is also enticing new players to have a bite of it. (Luas Samudera)