QAULAN, Vol. 2, No.1, Juni 2021 Zida Zakiyatul Husna, Media Commercialization....

MEDIA COMMERCIALIZATION: STATION EFFORT TO INCREASE RATINGS

Zida Zakiyatul Husna UIN Sunan Ampel [email protected]

Abstract: Media is an industry that can produce commodities that make commercial elements more prominent. Commercial it self is an implication of the media revolution that encourages media with an economic vision. The party that determines the communication process, from information coverage, information packaging, to information marketing is the owner of capital, where this condition affects the vision of a media. It can be said that the idealism of the media really depends on the owners of capital, because the form of journalism that is packaged is focused on dealing with market opportunities. Seeing this background, this research focuses on how the efforts of an Indosiar in increasing ratings. This study uses a descriptive qualitative method by observing the Indosiar television station. In this study, it was explained that one of the efforts of Indosiar television station in increasing its rating was from the rising artist performance factor.

Keywords: Media Commercialization, Rating, Indosiar

INTRODUCTION In the reform era like today, press freedom provides space for the growth of mass media in . This creates a new atmosphere in the field of print and electronic journalism and television is no exception. One of them is the emergence of a variety of private TV. And currently there are 17 national television stations in Indonesia. With the large number of TV industries, each television station is required to be able to develop its programs so as not to be eroded by the existing competition, without exception the entertainment programs that are presented. However, unfortunately, there is still a lack of compatible human resources or management factors of companies that are not well established or even less observant in targeting opportunities for local broadcast programs, causing many television stations that are not so advanced and only seem to survive or even go out of business. This can be seen when a television station tries to fight to attract viewers with the attractiveness of its program offerings.

With the television which is not only as a transmitter of information as well as a means of entertainment, but also as part of the capitalist industry. It takes creativity and also the use of the right time to create a program related to people's choices so that they are able to attract the public and increase ratings. So it is not surprising that a television station provides various kinds of programs given that television has become part of a popular industry that has its own effect in influencing people's behavior in the public sphere.

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As a commercial television, private television carries out two functions at once, namely as a means of information as well as entertainment. It is considered a trade item or commodity. Programs that are presented to the public tend to be sensational and spectacular, at any price that sometimes even sacrifices professionalism. This relates to the television industry itself which has an economic nature where private television is an important supporting factor in the market mechanism.

Therefore, every television program has a percentage of viewers called a rating. the more viewers who like a program, the higher the rating for the program and vice versa. If the rating of a program is low, it will be difficult to get advertisements which are the breath of the television industry. Because program shows have to compete with other programs to get a high rating, it is certain that all crew involved in a television station will compete to present the best shows and gather a lot of people. Various efforts have been made by the media in order to achieve its vision, mission and goals.

As explained earlier that the media becomes an industry that produces commodities, the commercial element becomes prominent. Commercial itself is an implication of the media revolution that encourages media with an economic vision. Which means that the media has become an industry that sells products in the form of information for consumption by the public with the aim of obtaining profit for the owner. It can also be said that media idealism is very dependent on the owners of capital, because the packaged form of journalism is focused on dealing with market opportunities. Seeing such conditions, it becomes a question whether a television industry prioritizes its social function as a social institution or prioritizes its interests as a business institution that is to maximize profits?

In this case, the success of a media can be measured by rating. Rating here is an economic measure, not a measure of the quality of media content. The higher the rating of a media, the more ad slots, the higher the income, and of course the higher the profit. In this case, a media must be very smart in making impressions, and also in arranging program schedules for the specific purposes of advertisers.

It was recorded that on October 17-18, 2020, the highest television station rating was occupied by the @indotvtrends version of Indosiar.

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@indotvtrends itself is an account on the Instagram social media platform that provides information about rating television stations in Indonesia. Indosiar itself is one of the commercial TVs in Indonesia. A little about Indosiar's history, starting from being founded and controlled by the Salim Group through PT. Indosiar Karya Media Tbk, which is listed on the Indonesian stock exchange. This television station operates in Daan Mogot, West .1

Recently, Indosiar has been in the highest rating of commercial television in Indonesia. Likewise the program of events he made. There must be a factor that makes Indosiar's rating increase. Whether it's from the broadcasting time of a program, or perhaps from the artist shown. Seeing this phenomenon, this study focuses on how a television station's efforts are to increase ratings. And are the programs that have been aired worthy to be shown, seeing that sometimes a media is more concerned with rating than the feasibility of a program?

THEORETICAL STUDY

1. Media

Media is the plural form of medium. In the science of communication media is defined as a channel, a means of connecting, and communication tools. The media referred to in this case is the mass media, both electronic and print media. One of the advantages of this media is its wide reach. The role of the mass media, among others, in propaganda is very effective.

1 Novia Olga, Laporan Praktek Kerja Lapangan di PT. Indosiar Visual Mandiri, (: Perpustakaan UNIKOM, 2014), 1.

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In communication, the media factor occupies a very important role in the process of spreading the message. Even a message can be said to be effective or not, widespread or not, it depends on the accuracy of choosing the media. 2

According to Denis Mc Quail, the media has an important function because:

a. Media is a changing and growing industry that creates jobs, goods and services, and feeds other related industries. Media is also an industry in itself that has rules and norms that link these institutions to society and other social institutions. On the other hand, media institutions are regulated by society. b. Media is a source of power, control, management, and innovation in society that can be utilized as a substitute for other resources. c. Media is a forum that increasingly plays a role in presenting events in people's lives, both at national and international levels. d. Media plays a role as a vehicle for cultural development, not only in terms of developing art forms and symbols, but also in terms of developing procedures, fashion, style, life, and norms. e. Media is the dominant source for individuals and society to obtain a picture and image of social reality. The media presents normative values and judgments that are mixed with news and entertainment. 3 2. Media Commercialization

Media is an industry that produces commodities, so the commercial element stands out. Commercial is the implication of the media revolution that drives media with an economic vision. The party who determines the communication process from information coverage, information packaging, to information marketing is the owner of the capital, where this condition affects the vision of a media. it can be said that media idealism is very dependent on the owners of capital, because the packaged form of journalism is focused on dealing with market opportunities. 4

A survey of the audience in the context of agenda setting is also oriented to the increase in olpah. The success of a media can be measured by circulation (print media) or rating (broadcasting media). Circulation is the number of newspaper copies sold each day and is used to set the price per advertisement. While the rating is the rating of the program. This rating is a very important thing for managers of commercial broadcasting stations,

2 Nina Yuliana, Media Relation,(: Graha Illmu, 2014), 6. 3 Muhammad Ashar Akil, Regulasi Media di Indonesia (Tinjauan UU Pers dan UU Penyiaran),(: UIN Alauddin, -), 138. 4 https://kapselclassfikomuntar.wordpress.com/2012/09/25/komersialisasi-media-di-indonesia/

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including television stations. Advertisers are always looking for the most watched television stations or programs. Rating is an indicator of whether the program has an audience or not.5 So, circulation and rating are economic measures, not a measure of the quality of media content.

According to Edwin T Vane and Lynne S Gross (Vane-Gross) in the book Programing For TV, Radio and Cable (1994) cited by Morissan, there are five objectives of showing a program on commercial television, namely:

a. Get as many audiences as possible, where the larger the audience that can be captured, the more expensive the advertising fee to pay, the company's revenue potential will also increase and the profits earned are even greater. b. A certain target audience, it is quite common for advertisements to be interested in placing advertisements on programs with an audience that is not too large. Vane-Gross calls this program for a specific audience but with a limited appeal called a demographic program because it is aimed at a specific audience based on age, gender, profession, and so on. Demographic programming can significantly reduce the audience size of later-running programs that require a general audience. The risk of loss of income (loss) may be greater than the profits derived from advertising on demographic programs. c. Prestige In Indonesia, showing successful films (blockbusters) can raise the prestige of television stations. In order to gain this prestige, television stations are willing to buy the rights to broadcast blockbuster films at high prices. d. appreciation Television stations sometimes make a program with the aim of getting an award. Television managers who produce a program that has good quality usually also want to win an award for their work. e. Public interest. Television stations also sometimes produce programs to meet the interests or needs of the public where the station is located. Each region has people with different situations. The responsibility of television stations is to present programs that can answer or meet these different situations and needs.6

5 Tine Agustin Wulandari, Mendongkrak Keberhasilan Program Televisi di Indonesia Melalui Akun Pada Situs Jejaring Sosial Twitter, (Bandung: Universitas Komputer Indonesia, 2015), 6. 6 Ibid.. 3.

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In the end, business interests tend to replace news interests. The phenomenon of commercialization is felt to be significantly more integrated with the concept of liberalization and the global capitalist economy. Freedom of the press also encourages the shift in the principles of journalism and the character of media content because as stated by Croteau (2001) that the mass media now places the public or audience as consumers, not citizens. The main purpose of the media is to generate profits for owners and shareholders and then encourage the audience to enjoy themselves through advertisements on television and ultimately buy the advertised products. Therefore, what is considered attractive to the public by the media is whatever is popular in the community. Thus the ideal goal of the media is to promote citizen activities through information, education, and social integration, drowning in the waves of commercialization and liberalization.

ANALYSIS Television as a capitalist industry that is full of various interests, it is certain that the process in program production is determined by the economic structure of the media. A producer must have creativity in carrying out the task of making programs but after all the media in this case the television station as a social structure is a business institution oriented to capital accumulation and operates in a structure that has its own rules and logic so that a producer cannot immediately use the media to express their creativity without any structure that limits the space for these social agents.

Indosiar or PT. Indosiar Visual Mandiri is one of the national private television stations in Indonesia which is located on Jl. Damai No.11 Daan Mogot, West Jakarta. A little history about Indosiar, originally founded and controlled by Grub Salim through PT. Indosiar Karya Mandiri tbk which is listed on the Indonesian stock exchange. Indosiar started its business activities on January 30, 1993 and aired its first broadcast on January 11, 1995. On May 13, 2011, the majority of shares in PT. Indosiar Karya Media tbk was purchased by PT. Eagle Mahkota Teknologi tbk owner of SCTV, making these two television stations under one control. 7

As one of the commercial television stations in Indonesia, Indosiar also presents programs for business purposes. Program ratings or ratings are important for television station managers. Advertisers are always looking for the most watched television stations or programs. Therefore, a television station must be able to make interesting programs with the aim of attracting as many audiences as possible. With so many viewers, entrepreneurs and business people will be interested in placing advertisements on the station. There are various factors that

7 Ibid, 2.

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QAULAN, Vol. 2, No.1, Juni 2021 Zida Zakiyatul Husna, Media Commercialization.... make a television station have a high rating such as the duration of the broadcast of a program, the hours or times of program broadcasting, and the artist displayed.

Recently, Indosiar has been in the public spotlight from what it broadcasts. Indosiar has the highest rating from private television in Indonesia. Then how are the efforts made by Indosiar to be able to achieve the highest rating? featuring artists who are currently booming, namely Lesti Kejora and Rizky Billar. A little about the two artists; Lesti is the first Dangdut Academy dropout artist organized by Indosiar. At that time, Lesty was chosen as the 1st place winner in the Dangdut Academy dangdut competence competition. Since being named the 1st place winner, Lesty Kejora's career has continued to improve. He even starred in several soap opera titles, besides that he also hosted several programs on Indosiar. In short, Lesty Kejora is an Indosiar dropout artist. While Rizky Billar at the beginning of his career he was a model. After becoming a model, Rizky Billar received an offer to play in a number of FTVs. In 2015, Rizky Billar also had a role in the big screen film entitled Miscall. There are several FTV titles that have been played by Rizjky Bilar, namely:

1. Rahasia Tuhan: Air Terjun Pemisah Jodoh (2015) 2. Lovepedia: Love Game (2016) 3. Cintaku Buat Mas Bro (2016) 4. Rahasia Cinta Pelangi (2017) 5. Sate Ayam Bumbu Cinta (2018) 6. Cinta Jangan Kasih Kendor (2018) 7. I Love You The Moon And Back (2018) 8. Cintaku Pendek Tapi Kece (2018) 9. Berakit Ke Hulu Berenang Ke Hatimu (2019) 10. Cinta Karena Cinta Ryan, Cinta Nikita (2020)8

It started with a talk show program on Indosiar, One Man Show, which was successful in attracting many viewers. Even on the Indosiar Youtube account, when the talk show program presented Rizky Billar and Lesty Kejora, they successfully occupied trending 1 on Youtube Indonesia.

8 Suci Bangun Dwi Setyaningsih, Profil Rizky Billar, Mengawali Karir Sebagai Model Hingga Pemain Sinetron Kini Punya Banyak Fans, https://www.tribunnews.com/seleb/2020/09/26/profil-rizky-billar- mengawali-karier-sebagai-model-hingga-pemain-sinetron-kini-punya-banyak-fans?page=4 (Accessed on October 29, 2020 at 20.35 WIB)

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It was recorded that on July 23, 2020, the One Man Show program was trending number 1 on Youtube Indonesia with 905,891 viewers. And this also made One Man Show won the award as the Favorite Talk Show with 4021 likes on the @INDOTVTrends version. Starting from a talk show that made Indosiar interested in showing Lesty Kejora and Rizky Billar in several of its programs.

Seeing the large audience of the One Man Show talk show, and the public's interest in Lesty Kejora and Rizky Billar, Indosiar finally created a special program featuring the two, namely the Lesty Kulepas Birthday Concert with Ikhlas. The concert was held not only to celebrate Lesty's birthday, but also to launch her new single. Not to forget, Indosiar also invited Rizky Bilar to the event. Again, Indosiar succeeded in attracting many viewers, and the rating of the program was ranked first.

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Not only that, again, Indosiar invited Rizky Bilar to the LIDA (Dangdut League) 2020 program as a host. Lesty Kejora, whose background is a dangdut singer and indeed at that time he was a jury for LIDA 2020.

On August 28, Rizky Billar was appointed as the Host of LIDA (Dangdut League) 2020. Since then, the LIDA 2020 program has always been ranked first for television programs in Indonesia.

Not only until the Lesti Ku Lepas Birthday Concert program with sincerity, Indosiar again made a special program for Lesty and Rizky Billar, the Lesty Billar Outspoken program. This program is a kind of talk show with the theme of exploring facts from Lesty and Rizky Billar. And again, a program from Indosiar featuring Lesty and Rizky Billar as the center of the program brought the program to the first rank of television programs in Indonesia.

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On October 17-18, 2020, Indosiar again made a musical drama program with the title Kulepas With Ikhlas, and Kawal Until Halal. The musical drama was played by alumni of LIDA and DA as well as several artists who again played Lesty and Rizky Bilar as the main characters. And yes, both programs were successful in getting the first and the top five television programs in Indonesia.

More fully, Lesti and Rizky billar not only star in the programs described above. The television programs from Indosiar that show both of them in one frame are the One Man Show talk show, Lesti Kulepas Birthday Concert with Ikhlas, Hijrah Cinta Concert, Lesti talk show and Billar Outspoken, LIDA 2020, POP Academy, Kulepas musical drama with Ikhlas, Musical Drama Kawal Until Halal, and Tasbih. The two of them are also often covered by Indosiar's gossip program, Hot Kiss.

Not only on Indosiar, other private television stations such as SCTV have also featured both in one program several times, such as the SCTV Anniversary event. And not only on television stations, both of them are often invited by Youtubers to create content on their Youtube accounts. Like the Youtube channel of Atta Halilintar, Ria Ricis, Basuki Surodjo, and many more. And almost every program or content that displays one or both of them is trending and gets high views.

So where's the commercial side? as explained earlier that commercial is a media revolution that encourages media with an economic vision. It can also be interpreted as something related to commerce or trade. So that media commercialization can be interpreted as media being used as a business field that is able to reap the maximum profit. Then how the media's efforts to achieve maximum profit? By displaying programs that can attract many

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QAULAN, Vol. 2, No.1, Juni 2021 Zida Zakiyatul Husna, Media Commercialization.... viewers. The more viewers who watch the program, the more advertisers will place ads on the program or at that time. Advertising rates also vary depending on the characteristics of the television station, program rating, type of broadcasting, broadcasting hours, as well as the placement of the advertisement itself. The higher the rating of a program, the more expensive the fees or tariffs set for advertising on television. In addition, the type of program that is broadcast also affects the amount of advertising tariffs on television. If the event is broadcast live, the tariff will be more expensive than the program that is broadcast on a delayed basis. Hours of viewing with high audience traffic will also make advertising rates on television more expensive. The placement of advertisements at the beginning, middle, or end of an event also affects the price of advertising on television. So expensive or not advertising on television depends on many aspects.

The following is a list of advertising rates on television. If you look at the table above, the price for advertising on Indosiar at 04.00-09.00 is 6-20 million, at 09.00-15.00 is 20-25 million, at 15.00-18.00 is 20-60 million, at 18.00- 24.00 is 25-85 million, and at 00.00-04000 is 6-25 million.9 However, the validity of the data is still questionable. Michael Tjandra as General Manager Sales of SCTV and Indosiar commented on the data and stated that the data was inaccurate. Michael Tjandra gave a little leak regarding the price of advertising on Indosiar, which was worth 100 million for part time advertisements for the Suara Hati A wife program and 110 million for the LIDA program.10

9 Galih Conainthata, Update Harga Pasang Iklan di Televisi Nasional, 2019, https://harga.web.id/berapakah-harga-pasang-ikan-di-televisi-ini-dia-jawabannya.info (Accessed on October 30, 2020 at 21.03 WIB) 10 Yos Beda, Harga Iklan di SCTV Rp. 110 Juta, Indosiar dan RCTI Rp. 100 Juta, 2020, https://www.popmagz.com/harga-iklan-di-sctv-rp110-juta-indosiar-dan--rp-100-juta-25457/ (Accessed on October 30, 2020 at 21.08)

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At that time, Indosiar's rating was not too high. Then what if the program rating on Indosiar goes up? surely the price of each ad will go up. It's just that until now no one has shared information regarding the price of advertising on Indosiar on its programs, especially programs featuring Lesty and Rizky Billar. But it is very clear that the two of them are present in Indosiar programs with the aim of increasing Indosiar's rating. And if the rating has gone up, Indosiar can also get the maximum benefit from advertisers who also take advantage of the moment.

CONCLUSION

All aspects of human life cannot be separated from the existence of media. The perspective of media commercialization makes the function of the media not only as a means of information, but also entertainment. However, the media also functions as an industry that sells products in the form of information for public consumption in order to gain profit for the owner. Commercialization itself is an action that prioritizes the beneficiary and existential side. The current form of commercialization of television media is a rating-based program. The existence of this rating is used as a reference or guideline, as an attractant for advertisers to place advertisements on the television station. The higher the rating of a program or television station, the higher the tariff for each advertisement.

The note that the author wants to convey regarding the commercialization of a program on a television station is that it is better to pay attention to the quality of the program itself. So a television station with the intention of increasing the rating of the media must also provide a presentation of the appropriate quality.

REFERENCES

Akil, Muhammad Ashar. Regulasi Media di Indonesia (Tinjauan UU Pers dan UU Penyiaran), Makassar: UIN Alauddin, - Aprianti, Gita. Jurnalisme Reportase: Sebuah Produk Komersialisasi Dalam Industri Televisi, (: Universitas Semarang,-) Beda, Yos. Harga Iklan di SCTV Rp. 110 Juta, Indosiar dan RCTI Rp. 100 Juta, 2020, https://www.popmagz.com/harga-iklan-di-sctv-rp110-juta-indosiar-dan-rcti-rp-100- juta-25457/ (Accessed on October 30, 2020 at 21.08) Billah, Muhammad Arif. Fenomena Konglomerasi Media Massa Indonesia, https://www.kompasiana.com/takberotakakademik/5c2c41d2aeebe12d03537df9/feno mena-konglomerasi-media-massa-di-indonesia?page=all (accessed on October 22, 2020 at 19:56)

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Conainthata, Galih. Update Harga Pasang Iklan di Televisi Nasional, 2019, https://harga.web.id/berapakah-harga-pasang-ikan-di-televisi-ini-dia-jawabannya.info (Accessed on October 30, 2020 at 21:03) https://kapselclassfikomuntar.wordpress.com/2012/09/25/komersialisasi-media-di- indonesia/ Olga, Novia. Laporan Praktek Kerja Lapangan di PT. Indosiar Visual Mandiri, Bandung: Perpustakaan UNIKOM, 2014 Setyaningsih, Suci Bangun Dwi. Profil Rizky Billar, Mengawali Karir Sebagai Model Hingga Pemain Sinetron Kini Punya Banyak Fans, https://www.tribunnews.com/seleb/2020/09/26/profil-rizky-billar-mengawali-karier- sebagai-model-hingga-pemain-sinetron-kini-punya-banyak-fans?page=4 (Accessed on October 29, 2020 at 20.35) Swarnawati, Aminah. Komersialisasi Media di Indonesia, 2012, https://kapselclassfikomuntar.wordpress.com/2012/09/25/komersialisasi-media-di- indonesia/ (accessed on October 22, 2020 at 20.00) Thohir, Umar Faruq. Etika Islam dan transformasi global. CV. Pustaka Ilmu Group, 2013. Thohir, Umar Faruq. Motivasi Jama'ah Lembkota Semarang dalam Mengikuti Pengajian Tasawuf. Diss. IAIN Walisongo, 2013. Wulandari, Tine Agustin. Mendongkrak Keberhasilan Program Televisi di Indonesia Melalui Akun Pada Situs Jejaring Sosial Twitter, (Bandung: Universitas Komputer Indonesia, 2015), 6. Yuliana, Nina .Media Relation, Yogyakarta: Graha Illmu, 2014

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