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High cost, less viewers
Sinetron TV series are very popular among Indonesian viewers
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Sinetron TV series are very popular among Indonesian viewers. But has the popularity gone up or down? The latest AGB Nielsen Media Research data reveals that sinetron ratings have decreased.
Nielsen communications executive Andini Wijendaru said the highest rating of sinetron in 2007 was 9 percent, but in 2008, this dropped to around six percent.
With Nielsen sampling some 46 million viewers, it means only 6 percent of the number, or some 2.76 million people, watched the highest rank sinetron in 2008. To compare, the highest rated sinetron in 2007 attracted some 4.1 million viewers.
Andini said the number of sinetrons and their duration also decreased in 2008.
"In 2007, there were around 480 titles, while 2008 saw some 370," Andini said, adding the numbers were recorded from 11 national and nine local TV stations.
Meanwhile, "The total duration of sinetron was some 12,000 hours last year, a decrease from some 14,000 hours in 2007," Andini said.
According to her, SCTV had the most hours of sinetrons last year, airing some 2,700 hours of the programs. RCTI and TPI, which aired sinetron for some 2,500 and 1,900 hours, respectively, followed.
The declining popularity of sinetrons, unluckily, is unequal to the soaring cost of making the dramas, according to one behind the scenee insider.
"The budget of one episode of a sinetron is between Rp 50 million and 300 million. But the cost has been increasing now because of the financial downturn," said a finance staff at Sinemart, on the condition of anonymity.
According to him, from the total budget, the main actresses or actors are paid up to Rp 30 million for each episode.
"Stars like Naysilla Mirdad and Dude Harlino are paid some Rp 25 million for one episode," he revealed. "A main supporting actor can get more than Rp 10 million for one episode, depending on his or her popularity."
The payment, however, is bad for those who play smaller roles.
"Sometimes, I feel sorry for those figurants. They are paid some Rp 50,000 to Rp 100,000 for one episode," he said. "Most of them, I can say, are school students looking for pocket money."
- JP/Dian Kuswandini
