Opinion News - Friday, September 14, 2007
Sirikit Syah, Surabaya
Indonesian football fanatics have expressed their anger and frustration at being denied the opportunity to watch the live matches on TV they would die for -- the English Premier League.
To watch the games, football fans have to subscribe to Astro Cable TV, which has won the license to air the league matches here.
There are two issues involved here. First, this is about broadcasting licenses and competition among broadcasters. Second, this is about the public's right to access information, including football matches.
Astro Cable TV has operated in Indonesia for quite some time, but allegations that it violated the 2002 broadcasting law have meant the company has not escaped controversy. Astro was previously a foreign-controlled company until it cut foreign ownership to 20 percent in accordance with the law.
Astro's presence is a challenge to broadcasting and telecommunications regulations, creating tighter competition and paving the way for foreign influence over our mass media.
Astro's sole right to broadcast Premier League matches has put the government in a quandary. After allowing Astro to operate, the government is now trying to interfere with the cable company's content programming. The communications minister and the KPI have mounted pressure on Astro to open up Premier League broadcasts to the public.
In the eyes of broadcasting players, this is a case of deja vu of Soeharto's New Order regime. It seems that you are let loose, but the rope is eventually tightened one way or another. You are given permission to buy and to air the game, but you cannot sell it.
To make matter worse, rumor has it that both the government and the KPI were influenced by lobbying by some of Astro's competitors. The English Premier League was brought here by TV7/Trans 7 for Rp 45 billion in 2003. But for the 2007/2008 season, the price skyrocketed to Rp 500 billion, forcing Trans 7 to give up.
Indonesian audiences are crying for "justice", which they call "the right of the people to watch the game". These people demand free access to Premier League matches, saying they cannot afford to subscribe to Astro.
But, on the other hand, Astro has to make a profit out of its Rp 500 billion investment.
What are people's "rights" then? Is there any danger if they miss out on watching the game? Will the country be in chaos if the public is denied free access to Premier League matches? The majority of Indonesians may not understand the meaning of "rights" here.
It is the task of intellectuals, observers and media practitioners themselves to straighten this out. Instead of inflaming the debate (by banning Astro for instance), knowledgeable people should accept the consequences of free competition (including in media). In this context, watching football should not be classified as "a right of the people".
The Premier League issue is strictly a question of content programming. In 2002, national television stations, in their resistance to the Broadcasting Law, argued that: "The spirit of decentralization of broadcasting operation brought by the law will eliminate the opportunities for people -- local people in particular -- to enjoy world-class programming."
I challenged this argument at the time. I argued that any foreign program popular with local people would still be aired on local TV stations in cooperation with national stations, which need the audience numbers to draw advertising. The difference is that national TV would have to share the advertising revenue with local TV.
The fact that people now remain unable to watch world-class programming, as I assumed when defending the Broadcasting Law, is a loss for both the people and the TV stations, both national and local. But is this the victory of Cable TV? Not yet. The debate is ongoing and results may be unexpected.
The problem is that national TV stations that have promised to bring world-class programs to their audiences are reluctant to spend big. They follow the simplest possible programming strategy: buy and air cheap programs only. They let popular world programs go to cable operators, and play it safe with domestic programs dominated by soap operas and comedies.
This complex problem of broadcasting -- terrestrial or cable -- as well as licensing, competition, and programming, are more than enough to give the communications minister a headache. But there is one thing that should be remembered -- leave the content to the audience, guarded by the broadcasting commission. The minister needs only to focus on whether the operation of TV stations of all kinds complies with the existing laws and regulations.
The writer is a journalist. She is formerly a broadcasting commissioner and can be reached at sirikitsyah@yahoo.com.
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