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Indonesia: A Market to Watch

http://www.satellitemarkets.com/events/indonesia-market-watch

Hong Kong,  March 2, 2012 – Indonesia’s pay-TV market is taking off, speakers told a capacity crowd of delegates at CASBAA’s Indonesia in View: Growing Pay TV forum, held in Jakarta on February 29th. With more than 2 million paying subscribers at the beginning of 2012, a host of new distribution platforms coming online, and strong economic fundamentals, Indonesia is looking to become one of Asia’s fast-growth TV success stories.

Executives from Indonesian players as well as international content and service suppliers underlined the country’s potential but cautioned that there were still hurdles to overcome in order to ensure continued expansion. The Forum attracted over 250 speakers, delegates and media to discuss the future of the market and prospects for further growth.

“The global pay-TV community realizes the importance and potential of this key market in the Asia-Pacific,” said Simon Twiston Davies, CEO, CASBAA. “The Forum enabled business leaders, both local and international, to truly understand the dynamics of pay TV in Indonesia.”

In closing the seminar, Twiston Davies noted that industry players both old and new are developing commercial offerings that appeal to a host of new consumers. But, he said, important issues still need to be resolved in order for the pay-TV landscape to continue to thrive.

• Churn and collection issues are significant, and the success or failure of operators will rest on the ongoing acquisition and subsequent retention of customers and the ability to effectively collect revenues from subscribers. 

• The regulatory environment – relatively positive and market-friendly to date – has some risks, as political forces undertake revisions of key broadcasting legislation. Dadang Hidayat, member and former chair of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI), told one panel that regulation of pay-TV programming had been more lenient than free-TV content, but there was increased scrutiny likely in the future.

• Piracy also remains a problem, with weak and inconsistent protection for legitimate players. The conference heard from Budi Setiyanto, operator of Sumatran cable system Smart Media, that he had built a business based on licensed content, only to find a competing network hijacking his customers by offering dirt-cheap prices based on distribution of pirated content. Arya Sinulingga, Secretary-General of Indonesian media association APMI, called for stronger enforcement against piracy – now!

Other speakers commented on the difficult competition pay-TV faces from Indonesia’s strong free-to-air TV industry. “Local content is king,” said John Riady, a Director of longtime Jakarta cable operator Lippo Group. His panel discussed indigenous content options, and agreed pay-TV has to develop differentiated content of its own that can attract viewers. Meanwhile, representatives of international networks spoke of plans already underway to ramp up production of localized content.

With increased competition regarded generally as a constructive development, several speakers underlined that the Indonesian market is big enough to support all the multiple players.

Speakers who participated in the Indonesia in View: Growing Pay TV forum included Ezki Tri Rezeki Widianti (Vice Chair, Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI)), Dr. Ir. Titon Dutono M. Eng (Director of Resource Planning, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology), Syamsul Lussa (Director of Film, Ministry of Culture & Tourism), Suzy Sayers (CEO of content producer, PT Tiga Citra Sinema), Arya Mahendra Sinulingga (Secretary General, APMI), Campbell Walker (Territory Head, Indonesia, Fox International Channels) and senior execs from Indonesian pay-TV operators Aora-TV, First Media, Okevision and Telkomvision).

“We are delighted with the quality of the meeting and CASBAA will continue to promote ongoing dialogue between government, industry and the public to promote pay TV in the country,” added Twiston Davies.

CASBAA Indonesia in View: Growing Pay TV was presented in association with Kominfo and KPI.