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KPI bans TV show over insult
The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) has officially imposed sanctions on TransTV, ordering the company to temporarily halt its comedy show, Yuk Keep Smile (YKS), starting on June 28
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he Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) has officially imposed sanctions on TransTV, ordering the company to temporarily halt its comedy show, Yuk Keep Smile (YKS), starting on June 28. The sanctions were a response to a June 20 YKS episode that contained several scenes deemed insulting to the legendary Betawi comedian, the late Benyamin Sueb.
In the show, a hypnotist attempted to hypnotize Cesar, one of comedians in the YKS, while saying that after he was hypnotized, the latter would understand 'dog languages and become 'as funny as Benyamin Sueb'.
'We have conducted a plenary meeting regarding the imposition of sanctions on the YKS. In the meeting, we decided to impose a temporary-halt sanction on the YKS as it was determined to have committed a serious broadcasting violation by humiliating the late Benyamin Sueb,' Agatha Lily, one of the KPI commissioners, said in Jakarta on Thursday, as quoted by kompas.com.
TransTV program director Ferizqo Irwan and several staff members of the YKS production team attended the meeting.
'The decision was communicated after we received a clarification from TransTV at 3 pm on Wednesday. It was decided that YKS would be temporarily halted starting on June 28,' Agatha said.
She said YKS had violated the Public Broadcasting Guidelines and Program Standards (P3SPS), especially Article 24, Paragraph 1 regarding harsh and abusive words.
'The sanction was imposed based on the public interest,' said Agatha. She added that it was not the first time YKS had broken the rules and been sanctioned by the KPI.
'Previous violations occurred in January, February and March of this year and we imposed a sanction in form of a duration-reduction,' said Agatha.
She said the commission empathized with Benyamin's family and deeply understood their objections to the show.
'Overall, we also empathize with Betawi communities. Hopefully, this is a lesson for TransTV,' said Agatha. (fss/ebf)
