TV chiefs have airtime on their hands

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.