Similarly to Thailand, the newspaper business in Indonesia faces stagnation while online news portals like Vivanews.com enjoy healthy growth as they cash in on increasing penetration of mobile Internet users.
"Because an online newspaper needs different strategies to build advertisers' confidence, it should not be treated as a bonus to mainstream media," said Karaniya Dharmasaputra, founder and chief executive officer of Viva Media Baru, the operator of Vivanews.com. He was speaking to members of the Thai press during their visit last week to leading publications in Jakarta.
The media visit was part of a knowledge-enhancement programme for Thai journalists on reporting news related to the Asean Economic Community. It was organised by the Thai Journalists Association in association with Charoen Pokphand (CP), Thailand's largest agriculturally based conglomerate.
Dharmasaputra said his company had separated its sales team from the parent company, which operates a television station and print media, so that it was able to work closely with clients to create and design specific marketing channels such as multimedia ads and advertorials on websites or even on-the-ground activities.
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| Karaniya Dharmasaputra |
It is estimated that there are at least 55 million Internet users among Indonesia's population of more than 200 million. Dharmasaputra said 38 per cent of that number were mobile Internet users.
"Though 90 per cent of total income comes from advertisements, reader-centric content remains our strong selling point at Vivanews," Dharmasaputra stressed. The most popular categories are involved with constructive news such as science, technology and business.
He added that his company's 176 employees produced 300 to 350 news items daily for its website, on which 1.8 million users logged on per day.
He said he witnessed a significant increase in digital migrants since 2010 after he started Vivanews.
Though ad spending via the Internet remains low at 7 per cent of the total industry, the annual growth rate is strong - for example, a 70-per-cent year-on-year rise in 2010 and about 40-50 per cent last year as well as so far this year.
Likewise, though it has not yet reached its break-even point, the company says it is now satisfied with its financial performance, having already covered the monthly operating costs it its third year of operation.
After a US$300,000 (Bt9.4 million) initial investment to develop the site, the company can offer broader services, namely Vivanews, Vivabola, Vivalife, Vivalog, Vivaforum and Vivasocio to expand its reader base, said Ady Pangerang, director for information technology, research and development.
Pangerang said the company planned to offer more services on its portal site in the near future to attract younger readers. such as an e-commerce service. It is also co-producing TV and radio programmes for local broadcasters.
Meanwhile, Indonesia's newspaper business is facing stagnant growth in readership and advertising revenue.
Rikard Bagun, chief editor of Kompas, the largest daily paper in Indonesia, said that of total advertising volume, 60 per cent remained in TV and 13 per cent in newspapers.
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| Rikard Bagun, chief editor of Kompas |
"As advertising contributes 80 per cent of our revenue, we must integrate our content with other media outlets in the group, including Kompas TV, partnered satellite TV channels, radio stations and its website," Bagun said.
WATCHIRANONT THONGTEP
THE NATION
Jakarta August 15, 2012 1:00 am
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Mobile-users-drive-strong-growth-of-Indonesian-onl-30188316.html
