In October 2014, Joko Widodo was inaugurated the seventh President of the country, marking his ninth year in politics. Widodo, also known as “Jokowi”, came to politics in 2005 as the 16th Mayor of Surakarta. In 2012, he went on to serve as Governor of Jakarta for two years and was then named president-elect in July 2014.
Jokowi, known as “the people’s president” – plans to offer free health care and 12 years of schooling to every Indonesian. Although many didn’t share the optimism of the nation, Indonesia’s president is determined to move together to work.
Sentiment on the country’s media equities remains robust, although year-to-date gains have started to moderate. Investors are selling down shares due to macroeconomic concerns and related impact on Indonesia’s advertising market.
Pay-TV in Indonesia
According to research reported by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC), pay-TV growth in Indonesia is the slowest among Asian countries, growing only 2 percentage points per year. Still, pay-TV subscribers are optimistic about the annual growth of subscribers. In fact, total pay-TV subscribers have also increased tremendously – from 900, 000 subscribers in 2009 to an estimated 2.3 million in 2012, according to Media Partners Asia (MPA). According to The Jakarta Post, subscribers will continue to rise to an estimated 8.7 million by 2020. Additionally, MPA’s report, Asia Pacific Pay-TV & Broadband Markets 2012, suggests that Indonesia accounts for the largest proportion of pay-TV growth in Southeast Asia, contribution 5% to net additions.
In just the past year, Indonesia has sealed multiple deals with pay channels:
- January: NHK World TV commenced broadcasting through satellite operators, bringing to viewers Japanese programmes.
- June: Celestial Movies and KIX launched on K-Vision, a newly-launched pay-TV platform in Indonesia.
- December: Celestial Movies launched on NexMedia and Matrix TV. Additionally, Matrix TV is also carrying KIX and Thrill.
Free-to-Air channels
The free-to-air (FTA) channels in Indonesia have been revamped with several key partnerships that were announced in the year.
In May last year, three of Media Nusantara Citra Group’s (MNC) FTA broadcasted Window on Australia – Australian television content by Australia Network – for a month.
Australian news had its own three-minute daily feature on MNC’s breakfast, midday and afternoon bulletins with special features. The initiative reached a significant number of Indonesians in their own language on the channels.
Besides collaborating and forging friendship with its neighbouring country, Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Asia announced the expansion of MTV in Indonesia with FORTE, a member of Karsa Group and a marketing and sales distribution partner for MTV in Indonesia.
Since 1 November 2014, MTV expanded its existing reach in the country to an estimated 12 million households via four local FTA TV partners across five cities in – Jakarta, Banding, Surabaya, Banjarmasin and Makassar. The next phase planned for early this year will expand MTV’s presence via additional local FTA TV partners in other cities.
Under the campaign of 1000% YOUTH, the revamp of MTV in Indonesia included original programming such as MTV World Stage and MTV Europe Music Awards. They will also be engaging youth in local promotions and social engagement via MTV’s localised social channels and website.
DTH services
In April 2014, Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat) and PT. Digital Media announced the launch of VIVA+, a brand new prepaid direct-to-home (DTH) satellite service utilising multiple Ku-band transponders on AsiaSAT 5 at 100.5 degrees East to serve the fast growing Indonesian pay DTH market.
VIVA+ has served Indonesian households by bringing the World Cup 2014 to pay-TV viewers. This was made possible with the installation of ViBE VS7000 multi-screen video system by Thomson Video Networks.
In the same month, the broadcaster launched Ultimate World Cup TV, allowing fans to enjoy 64 main games on nine Ultimate World Cup channels, two of which were in HD.
In May 2014, the Indonesia prepaid DTH satellite service deployed Newtec equipment to deliver all of its content. The technology partner to VIVA+ parent company PT Digital Media Asia allows DTH operators to either save money on space capacity, lower programming cost or simply increase service availability.
In October 2014, Joko Widodo was inaugurated the seventh President of the country, marking his ninth year in politics. Widodo, also known as “Jokowi”, came to politics in 2005 as the 16th Mayor of Surakarta. In 2012, he went on to serve as Governor of Jakarta for two years and was then named president-elect in July 2014.
Jokowi, known as “the people’s president” – plans to offer free health care and 12 years of schooling to every Indonesian. Although many didn’t share the optimism of the nation, Indonesia’s president is determined to move together to work.
Sentiment on the country’s media equities remains robust, although year-to-date gains have started to moderate. Investors are selling down shares due to macroeconomic concerns and related impact on Indonesia’s advertising market.
Pay-TV in Indonesia
According to research reported by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC), pay-TV growth in Indonesia is the slowest among Asian countries, growing only 2 percentage points per year. Still, pay-TV subscribers are optimistic about the annual growth of subscribers. In fact, total pay-TV subscribers have also increased tremendously – from 900, 000 subscribers in 2009 to an estimated 2.3 million in 2012, according to Media Partners Asia (MPA). According to The Jakarta Post, subscribers will continue to rise to an estimated 8.7 million by 2020. Additionally, MPA’s report, Asia Pacific Pay-TV & Broadband Markets 2012, suggests that Indonesia accounts for the largest proportion of pay-TV growth in Southeast Asia, contribution 5% to net additions.
In just the past year, Indonesia has sealed multiple deals with pay channels:
• January: NHK World TV commenced broadcasting through satellite operators, bringing to viewers Japanese programmes.
• June: Celestial Movies and KIX launched on K-Vision, a newly-launched pay-TV platform in Indonesia.
• December: Celestial Movies launched on NexMedia and Matrix TV. Additionally, Matrix TV is also carrying KIX and Thrill.
Free-to-Air channels
The free-to-air (FTA) channels in Indonesia have been revamped with several key partnerships that were announced in the year.
In May last year, three of Media Nusantara Citra Group’s (MNC) FTA broadcasted Window on Australia – Australian television content by Australia Network – for a month.
Australian news had its own three-minute daily feature on MNC’s breakfast, midday and afternoon bulletins with special features. The initiative reached a significant number of Indonesians in their own language on the channels.
Besides collaborating and forging friendship with its neighbouring country, Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Asia announced the expansion of MTV in Indonesia with FORTE, a member of Karsa Group and a marketing and sales distribution partner for MTV in Indonesia.
Since 1 November 2014, MTV expanded its existing reach in the country to an estimated 12 million households via four local FTA TV partners across five cities in – Jakarta, Banding, Surabaya, Banjarmasin and Makassar. The next phase planned for early this year will expand MTV’s presence via additional local FTA TV partners in other cities.
Under the campaign of 1000% YOUTH, the revamp of MTV in Indonesia included original programming such as MTV World Stage and MTV Europe Music Awards. They will also be engaging youth in local promotions and social engagement via MTV’s localised social channels and website.
DTH services
In April 2014, Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat) and PT. Digital Media announced the launch of VIVA+, a brand new prepaid direct-to-home (DTH) satellite service utilising multiple Ku-band transponders on AsiaSAT 5 at 100.5 degrees East to serve the fast growing Indonesian pay DTH market.
VIVA+ has served Indonesian households by bringing the World Cup 2014 to pay-TV viewers. This was made possible with the installation of ViBE VS7000 multi-screen video system by Thomson Video Networks.
In the same month, the broadcaster launched Ultimate World Cup TV, allowing fans to enjoy 64 main games on nine Ultimate World Cup channels, two of which were in HD.
In May 2014, the Indonesia prepaid DTH satellite service deployed Newtec equipment to deliver all of its content. The technology partner to VIVA+ parent company PT Digital Media Asia allows DTH operators to either save money on space capacity, lower programming cost or simply increase service availability.
