Television in Indonesia

Television

Television in Indonesia began on August 17, 1962 in Jakarta with the state-run station, TVRI, which began broadcasting on the seventeenth anniversary of Indonesian Independence. It held a television monopoly in Indonesia until 1989, when the first commercial station, RCTI (Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia) began as a local station and was subsequently granted a national license a year later.

Since then, several commercial stations have started up. As of 2006, eleven nation-wide commercial networks are available: RCTI, TPI, SCTV, antv, Indosiar, Metro TV, TV7, Trans TV, Lativi, and Global TV. Several regional television stations serve viewers even in remote and poor areas. Commonly, local governments run these stations.

Each of the network has a wide variety of programs, ranging from traditional show, such as wayang performance, to programs like Indonesian Idol that are based on Western models. One typical television show of almost every network is sinetron[8] Sinetron is usually a drama series, following the soap opera format, but can also refer to any fictional series. Sometimes it can be comic, like the popular Bajaj Bajuri series, featuring a bajaj (a taxi-like tricycle) driver and the people he drives around.

During 2006, trial transmissions of digital TV (DVB-T) took place in Jakarta. Digital cable PayTV transmission service through fibre optic is available in Bekasi, near Jakarta and several apartments in Jakarta. Digital satellite PayTV transmission services (DVB-S) are available throughout Indonesia.