TV chiefs have airtime on their hands

By Marselli Sumarno

JAKARTA (JP): Viewers may be happier nowadays with fewer commercials interrupting their favorite programs, but television station managers are, needless to say, upset.

Airtime has dropped from 20 hours to as low as seven hours.

Private TV here is still young; the oldest among the stations, RCTI, will soon enter its 10th year in existence while the youngest, Indosiar, has just celebrated its third anniversary.

In the midst of their efforts to find their feet, they have suddenly been compelled to stop any further development and to economize to survive. Their lifeblood, advertising, has dropped by as much as 50 percent.

Cutting airtime is the first measure which has helped save up to Rp 150 million a day in TV stations' operational costs. Luckily, the stations air at different times, or else there would be the unbearable monotony of dead airtime for viewers.

TPI, which has been successful in its daytime programs, has abandoned all evening telecasts.

A second, less popular step is to broadcast reruns of formerly high-rated programs. For example, RCTI is rerunning Janjiku (My Promise), the drama which was a hit last year.

Problem here is that a limited number of programs qualify as successful.

A few years ago, there was a frequently repeated recommendation that private TV stations should increase local programming content.

At that time, one episode of a 30-minute teleserial from Latin America cost US$600, according to production managers here, while an episode of an imported one-hour serial was about $5,000.

The advice is moot now -- the sinking of the rupiah has made costs of buying foreign serials completely prohibitive.

Prices of imported serials, formerly considered less expensive than locally produced shows, is now nearly equivalent to producing a local one. An imported hour-long program priced at $5,000 was about Rp 10 million before the crisis hit; it has now become some Rp 50 million, or the same amount as a one-hour episode of a local TV drama.

Unfortunately, TV stations are not snapping up local programs, as they lack the funds to purchase them from production houses.

An alternative has been to propose cooperation with production houses and share profits. Both parties would seek commercials but the production houses would be the first to suffer losses if they failed to reach targets.

This dilemma is threatening the survival of 327 production houses, with estimates that about 80 percent will eventually collapse.

Survivors are likely to be those which form a syndicate, have much capital, produce programs guaranteed high ratings (such as through presenting star-studded casts) and which have good connections with advertising agencies.

Multivision, Starvision and Rapi Films are examples of prominent production houses which were formerly known as widescreen film producers.

It should be noted that the production houses were in a weak bargaining position against the private TV stations even before the onset of the crisis. This was particularly evident in the matter of prompt payments for programs.

In other words, the stations owed considerable amounts of money to the production houses. This reality was clearly a daunting problem for production houses with limited capital.

Reports surfaced that several production houses intended to merge to survive.

This would be difficult, however, given the difference in missions, corporate culture and target audiences of their programs.

Cooperation is a better bet. RCTI president director M.S. Ralie Siregar said last month that print and electronic media needed to seriously consider this option, especially in the field of news and marketing.

As foreign investment in the media industry is prohibited, cooperation also has a better chance in these relationships.

TPI has cooperated with Australia's Channel Seven Network since October last year in program broadcasting and training of human resources, among other sectors.

Unlike several print media companies, private TV stations have yet to resort to widespread layoffs, although many employees have much more time on their hands.

This may be because the biggest expenditure for telecasts is not employees' salaries but the purchase of programs. Also, it is not easy for TV stations to suspend broadcasts after laying off employees.

Closing down altogether would lead to the headache of selling assets, especially broadcasting equipment.

It is clear that the national private TV industry can only subsist at this time. Expanding networks, constructing studios and replacing outmoded equipment are now out of the question.

An alternative yet to receive much support is to encourage production houses to make export-oriented programs.

A TV station could become the international distributor for products suitable for export. Thus, both sides could obtain adequate profits as the international market is clearly more extensive than the domestic one.

An export-oriented product would have to have universal elements suitable for foreign viewers. We have many examples we can learn from; cowboy drama Bonanza was popular here, and aired in hundreds of other countries; soap operas from Brazil gained audiences in 82 far-flung lands; Hong Kong's Jackie Chan is enjoyed both here and in the United States, and many people here are devoted followers of Indian teleserials and films.

One existing series, RCTI's Si Doel, may be a good candidate to make this transition. With humorous plots revolving daily conversations in the traditional home of a native Jakartan family, the show could prove to be an interesting slice of life for foreign audiences.

The main constraint seems to be marketing, which would need to be intensified.

As the industry bides its time until the economy gets better, there is a lot of homework to be done.