Indonesia.(BROADCASTING)

According to Jaydeep Chaudhuri, managing director, MEC Indonesia, on a national level, the estimated penetrations of various media across urban and rural centres are TV - 82 percent; newspapers - 14 percent; magazines - 12 percent; radio - 38 percent; and the internet - 7 percent.

For people reached by the media - TV audiences spend about 210 minutes per day with the medium, as opposed to 60 minutes per day for radio audiences and a low 30 minutes for newspaper readers.

Terrestrial TV is by far the lead medium - with no threat in sight in the immediate future, according to Chaudhuri. Pay TV however has a very low penetration - with only about 2 million households across Indonesia estimated to have a pay TV connection.

Readership of all print vehicles - newspapers, magazines, tabloids - are steadily decreasing. The internet - across multiple devices - is rapidly picking up, and TV is stable. In measured media - about 60 percent of ad revenue goes to television, 35 percent goes to newspapers and 5 percent to magazines/tabloids.

The top program genres remain the soap operas - locally called the 'sinetrons' - rivaled closely by reality programming. 'Cinta Fitri' (sinetron) on SCTV, 'Ter Mehk Mehk' (reality ) on Trans TV and FremantleMedia's 'Take Me Out Indonesia' (reality) on IVM were the top performing programs that stood out.

Chaudhuri revealed that there were no significant changes in top programming.

"The genres have largely been the same in the last few years. Experimentation with formats from overseas markets is likely to continue, and so 'sinetrons' will continue to be staple favorites," he said.

Asked about Indonesia's perceived dominance by Media Nusantara Citra (MNC), Chaudhuri said, "It is not that clear a dominance - assuming you are referring to the MNC group - which operates Global TV, RCTI, TPI and Indovision. Primarily because they do not operate as a single entity and the core cash cow - RCTI - is locked in a three - way battle for channel share with SCTV and TRANS. So it is always possible for an advertiser to play the balancing game to meet brand objectives and cost targets."

The growth potential of Indonesia's pay - TV market, meanwhile, has always been significant, but hampered variously by inconsistent legislation and signal piracy.

According to Rudy Tanoesoedibjo, Director MNC Sky Vision (MSV), the pay - TV operator was gaining impressive subscriber numbers monthly, only to see substantial numbers being eroded by signal pirates. Pak Rudy is now talking of growth outpacing attrition. And it's a positive sentiment widely echoed amongst the pay - TV fraternity, that political stability and internal action against the pay - TV pirates bode well for long - term growth.

Much of MNC Sky Vision's recent growth was made possible by the May 2009 launch of its latest satellite INDOSTAR-II, doubling their capacity. "This has resulted in improvement of the quality and very excellent delivery of the service," said Pak Rudy, "as well as increasing our capacity. Before we had 4.5 transponders, now we have 10 fully functioning transponders."

Another major factor in MSV's growth has been the launch of Top TV, a new service offering lower-level price points. "Indovision was indeed perceived as a premium product, it was a perception we engineered to appeal to higher - spending demographic. So Top TV is targetted at those people who can't afford (or think they can't) Indovision."

But Pak Rudy says that their research has shown that those people who can afford Top TV, can actually afford Indovision. "So our strategy is to attract them to Top TV and then upsell to Indovision. People like to move up rather than down."

He also talks about how capacity has helped boost their content offerings, such as the recently - launched 24-hour Golf Channel. "We have many things on an exclusive basis."

Asked about the popularity of their in - house comedy channel, Pak Rudy said that many channels that buy third - party content are not suitable for the MSV platforms. "So it is better for us to locally package channels, like the comedy channel. There has been a very positive response from subscribers and we have other in - house channels planned." Another interesting development was MSV's commitment to HDTV at the signing of an MoU between MSV and Samsung to supply Decoders or Set - Top Boxes (STB).

"Provision of the STB is also Indovision's first step into the High - Definition Television (HDTV) and to encourage local components," said Rudy. "This is a form of our commitment to be a great player and to keep leading in this industry."

Rudy described the pay - TV industry as a very prospective business in Indonesia, with Indovision claiming a dominant 70 percent share of the pay - TV market in Indonesia. On the anti - piracy side of the business, the Government is currently in the process of applying effective laws and regulations to stop illegal cable TV operators which are located rurally and in cities outside Jakarta.

Based on the information from Association of Indonesia Multimedia Provider (APMI) and Association of Indonesia Cable TV Entrepreneur (APTEKINDO), currently there are approximately 680-2,500 illegal cable TV operators with the total number of subscribers reaching about 2 million households, which is bigger than the operator's legal subscribers and gross income.

Says Pak Rudy, "Many things have changed, we are very happy to be receiving such support from our channels and from the Government. In Indonesia there is a potential market of about 10 million, we estimate 12-15 million subscribers can afford pay TV."

Pak Rudy estimated current subscriber numbers, for both Indovision and Top TV, at around 670,000, with 1 million subscribers the next major milestone in MSV's sights. "We are very confident of achieving this milestone very soon. Even now, we have a very significant competitive advantage - my short term goal is the 1 million mark." AG

INDONESIA

FREE - TO - AIR

PT CAKRAWALA ANDALAS TELEVISI (ANTV)

Menara Standard Chartered Bank Lt. 31-32 JI. Prof. Dr. Satrio No. 164 Jakarta 12950, Indonesia

PT CIPTA TELEVISI PENDIDIKAN INDONESIA (TPI)

Jalan Pintu 2 TMII, Pondokgede Jakarta Timur, 13810, Indonesia

PT DUTA VISUAL NUSANTARA (TV7)

Menara Bank Mega Lt.20 JI.Kapt.P.Tendean Kav. 12-14A, Jakarta 12790, Indonesia

PT GLOBAL INFORMASI BERMUTU (GLOBAL-TV)

Gedung Ario Bimo Sentral, Jalan HR Rasuna Said Blok X-2 Kav. 5, Jakarta 12950, Indonesia

PT INDOSIAR VISUAL MANDIRI (INDOSIAR)

Jalan Damai 11 Daan Mogot, Jakarta 11510, Indonesia

PT MEDIA NUSANTARA CITRA (MNC) CORPORATE HEADQUARTER

Menara Kebon Sirih Lt 28 JI Kebon Sirih Kav. 17-19, Jakarta 10340, Indonesia

PT MEDIA TELEVISI INDONESIA (METRO-TV)

Jalan Pilar Mas Raya Kav.A-D Kedoya - Kebon Jeruk, Jakarta 11520, Indonesia

LAVITI MEDIA KARYA

Jalan Rawa Theatre II No.2, Kawasan Industri, Pulo Gadung, Jakarta 13260, Indonesia

PT RAJAWALI CITRA TELEVISI INDONESIA (RCTI)

Jalan Raya Pejuangan, No.1 Kebon Jeruk Jakarta Barat 11530, Indonesia

PT SURYA CITRA TELEVISI (SCTV)

Graha SCTV Lantai 4, Jalan Gatot Subroto Kav. 21, Jakarta 12930, Indonesia

PT TELEVISI TRANSFORMASI INDONESIA (TRANS-TV)

Jalan Kapten Tendean Kav 12-14A Jakarta 12790, Indonesia

CABLE TV

PT FIRST MEDIA

Citra Graha Building 4th Floor, Suite 401 Jalan Gatot Subroto Kav 35-36, Jakarta 12950, Indonesia

PT MULTIMEDIA NUSANTARA (METRA)

Jalan Linkar Mega Kuning Kav 3/2 No 1 Lantai 37, Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia

SATELLITE TV

AORA/PT KARYAMEGAH ADIJAYA

Kantor Taman E3.3, Unit A 3A Mega Kuningan, Jakarta 12950, Indonesia

PT MNC SKY VISION (INDOVISION)

Wisma Indovision, 7th and 8th Floor Jalan Raya Panjang Blok Z/III, Jakarta 11520, Indonesia

IPTV

PT. INDONUSA TELEMEDIA (TELKOMVISION)

JI. Dr. Supomo No. 139, Jakarta 12810, Indonesia

MOBILE TELCOS

INDOSAT M2

Jalan Kebagusan Raya No. 36 Pasar Minggu Jakarta 12550, Indonesia

PT ELANG MAHKOTA TEKNOLOGI (EMKOM)

Gedung Menara Batavia Lantai 5, Jin Kaha Mas Mansyur Kav 126 Jakarta Pusat, Indonesia

GOVERNMENT BODIES/REGULATORY AGENCIES

FILM CENSORSHIP INSTITUTION

Jalan MT Haryono Kav 47-48, Jakarta 12770, Indonesia

KOMISI PENYIARAN INDONESIA (KPI) (THE INDONESIA BROADCAST COMMISSION)

Gedung Sekretariat Negara, Lantai VI Jalan Gajah Mada No.8, Jakarta 10120, Indonesia

STATSBOX

INDONESIA

POPULATION 242 million

TV HOUSEHOLDS 37 million

TV PENETRATION (ABC) 60.4 percent

PAY-TV PENETRATION (ABC) 3.5 percent

PAY-TV SUBSCRIBERS 1.3 million

ILLEGAL SUBSCRIBERS 1,030,000

INTERNET USERS 25 million

Source: CASBAA