Indian drama series, World Cup boost ANTV ranking

JAKARTA. Free-to-air television station ANTV, which is operated by publicly listed PT Intermedia Capital (MDIA), has successfully entered the ranks of premier Indonesian TV stations, driven mostly by its Indian mythological drama series and its coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

“After broadcasting the World Cup this month, we are in the top position in terms of audience, with a market share of about 13.3 percent,” MDIA president director Erick Thohir said after a shareholders meeting on Thursday.

ANTV and its sister TV station, TV ONE, are Indonesia’s official broadcasters for this year’s World Cup in Brazil.

Erick said that even when the World Cup was over, he was upbeat that ANTV would maintain a top-three position because its new Indian mythological drama series, Mahabharata and Mahadewa, had successfully attracted large numbers of women and children in the country.

During their show times, Mahabharata and Mahadewa received the highest average audience share, at 16.2 percent and 18.4 percent, respectively, according to a recent survey by Nielsen.

Mahabharata broadcasts from 8:30 pm to 9:00 pm, while Mahadewa broadcasts from 9:00 pm to 10:00 pm.

SCTV’s Ganteng ganteng serigala and RCTI’s Tukang bubur naik haji, meanwhile, came in second and third place, with an average audience share of 15.4 percent and 17 percent, respectively.

The Nielsen survey also revealed that ANTV climbed up the ladder with an average TV market share of only 4.4 percent in 2001 to more than 10 percent this year.

Erick said that he was upbeat that ANTV would be able to maintain its share, especially with a two-year license to air Mahabharata and Mahadewa.

“We are pretty sure that the two drama series will keep us in the top position because many people, particularly women and children, are enthusiastic about them. The series somehow resonates with our own cultural values,” the programming director of PT Visi Media Asia (VIVA), Otis Hahyari, added.

MDIA is part of VIVA, which is controlled by Aburizal Bakrie, who is a supporter of presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto.

Otis said that his firm would also broadcast more quizzes and cartoons to attract additional female and children viewers. “We will add more cartoons from European countries and India to standout from other stations, which mostly broadcast American cartoons,” he said.

Erick said that he was upbeat that his firm would earn more than Rp 1 trillion (US$83.4 million) in total revenues this year, up from Rp 835.5 billion last year, mainly due to surging advertisement revenue due to the World Cup and its Indian drama series’.

He said that MDIA would spend Rp 73.85 billion next year to add more studios and towers out of funds generated by MDIA’s initial public offering three months ago.

“We currently use six studios, four of which we own. We aim to use eight studios next year, either by buying or renting new ones,” he said, adding that it would cost around Rp 20 billion to build one studio.

He also said that his firm would add five new towers next year, with a total budget of around Rp 50 billion.

“We aim to increase our in-house production to 75 percent from the current 63 percent for better cost efficiency,” he said.

MDIA’s production-cost to revenue-cost stood at 33 percent last year, down from 36.6 percent in 2012.

The firm’s bottom line surged by 29.4 percent to Rp 64.1 billion in the first quarter of this year from Rp 49.6 billion over the same period in 2013.