PT Elang Mahkota Teknologi managing director Sutanto Hartono, who also holds the CEO position at Surya Citra Media and Vidio, spoke to The Jakarta Post's Aditya Hadi on Feb. 3 about the company's current performance and its strategy for moving forward.

 

Question: Can you explain the business ecosystem under Emtek Group?

Answer: We started as a technology partner for Nokia Network and an exclusive distributor of Compaq personal computers. Up until now, we still have solutions for telco companies, such as voucher distribution.

Then, we expanded to television with SCTV and Indosiar. Last year, amid the switch-off of analog stations, we added two more TV channels: Moji and Mentari. Aside from that, we also have digital media businesses, such as KapanLagi Youniverse (KLY) and an over-the-top (OTT) platform called Vidio.

Our biggest strength is in advertisement. That's why we also eye opportunities in influencer engagement and affiliate marketing. It can be in the shape of building a new company, acquiring an existing player or building a joint venture with partners.

Outside the media business, we have investments in Bukalapak, Dana, Grab, Bank Fama and hospital businesses.

 

How does Emtek Group continue to thrive amid macroeconomy turmoil?

We have several philosophies. The first one is that we want to manage a healthy business. That's why we don't have a “hobby” to raise big loans.

That philosophy has been criticized over the past years, as people considered us not aggressive enough. However, in these current conditions, people praise us.

We also use the same philosophy for our subsidiaries, such as Vidio and Bukalapak. It doesn't mean that they couldn't spend huge money on investment, as the rights for the English Premier League and the World Cup [which are owned by Vidio] are really expensive. As long as it can be justified, that's okay.

Discipline in spending then becomes behavioral, and it’s a good habit in this economic turmoil.

Our second philosophy is that we only invest with a long-term horizon. That's why we're kind of selective in doing due diligence. We will not exit within a short time period, unless there is a good opportunity.

 

How did Emtek Group perform in 2022?

2022 was a good year for our TV business. We have regained leadership in the total audience. Our new TV stations captured a 9 percent audience share in only three months. That was also supported by a healthy bottom line.

Bukalapak has seen its burn loss reduced. It only needs to find a good business model with a better profit margin. Meanwhile, our hospital businesses are profitable.

For Vidio, we're still in the investment phase. We would like to establish our leadership amid the emergence of international players looking to enter Indonesia's market. As they haven't been too aggressive in the market, we need to become a clear winner that is hard to buy.

Vidio is our biggest bet in the media business. This is our future.

 

What is your strategy to develop Vidio?

Despite being founded in 2014, we only started to run Vidio seriously five years later. It's not without reason, as we saw there was no urgency to do so [earlier]. At the time, there was no platform that dominated the OTT space, aside from YouTube.

In 2019, we saw that the market was far more ready, and having a platform is more beneficial in the digital media business than just being a content producer. As a platform owner, we have more bargaining power in the industry.

In developing the product, we try to leverage existing players, such as by partnering with local production houses to make exclusive content, using the Google Cloud platform to smoothen the experience, and bundling the app with smartphone makers to expand the distribution.

By having multiple channels in OTT and television, we can learn what content works in either of those or in both of those channels. We are also ready to make huge bets, such as buying a license for the World Cup, and splitting the distribution to those channels in order to manage the risk.

Our next challenge is to retain customers for Vidio and [get them to] use the platform more often. For that, we need to consistently deliver good content that people will appreciate.