Founded in 1962, Television of the Republic of Indonesia (Televisi Republik Indonesia, TVRI) is the official public broadcaster of Indonesia. The station had a monopoly in television until 1989 when Indonesia liberalized the broadcasting market allowing the first commercial television channel to operate. Today, TVRI covers the entire territory of Indonesia, running three nationwide channels and more than 30 regional channels.
Media assets
Television: National- TVRI Nasional, Kanal 2, Kanal 3, Sport; Regional- TVRI Aceh, TVRI Sumatera Utara, TVRI Sumatera Barat, TVRI Riau Kepri, TVRI Jambi, TVRI Bengkulu, TVRI Sumatera Selatan, TVRI Bangka Belitung, TVRI Lampung, TVRI Jakarta, TVRI Jawa Barat, TVRI Jawa Tengah, TVRI Yogyakarta, TVRI Jawa Timur, TVRI Bali, TVRI NTB, TVRI NTT, TVRI Kalimantan Barat, TVRI Kalimantan Tengah, TVRI Kalimantan Timur, TVRI Kalimantan Selatan, TVRI Sulawesi Utara, TVRI Gorontalo, TVRI Sulawesi Tengah, TVRI Sulawesi Barat, TVRI Sulawesi Tenggara, TVRI Sulawesi Selatan, TVRI Maluku, TVRI Papua Barat, TVRI Papua; International- TVRI World
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
Until 2005, TVRI operated as a state-owned corporation. In 2005, the Indonesian government, through Regulation Number 13 on Public Broadcasting Institutions, transformed the station into a Public Broadcast Institution. The new status had already been mentioned in Law 32 of 2002, but it took three years for the institutional transformation of the station to happen.
The main governing structures at TVRI are a Supervisory Board whose five members are appointed by the People’s Representative Council, one of Indonesia’s two lawmaking bodies; and a Board of Directors consisting of five people who are appointed by the Supervisory Board. Both boards have to be approved by the President.
Source of funding and budget
According to Law 32 of 2002, TVRI is supposed to be financed through a combination of broadcast fees, state budget allocations, public contributions and advertising. By now, the broadcast fee (a form of license fee that is supposed to be paid by every home in Indonesia) has not been implemented. Thus, the largest part of the TVRI’s budget comes from the state.
In 2020, the broadcaster received a state budget allocation of IDR 1.1tn (US$ 75m), which is more or less the entire budget of the station, according to information from the company. In 2022, TVRI received state funds to the tune of IDR 1.6tn (US$ 107.5m), according to media reports.
Editorial independence
In spite of declared intentions of the Indonesian government to transform TVRI into an editorially independent public broadcaster, the station remains aligned with the government’s interests, promoting its policies and rarely criticizing its members or their actions, according to local journalists and experts.
The law puts forward a few provisions that require TVRI to carry out tasks related to its public service mission. However, a statute establishing its independence is lacking and so does a body or mechanism to independently validate the editorial independence of TVRI.
October 2023