Arya Dipa, Bandung – The quality of Indonesian television programs is below standard, according to a survey conducted by the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) and the Indonesian Communication Scholars (ISKI) from 12 universities.
In their latest survey, conducted between March and August, the nation's TV programs' quality index was rated at only 3.56, which is below the standard of 4 set by the KPI.
"The highest standard is 5, which means highly qualified, but as it is very difficult to achieve we agree that the quality standard is 4," ISKI's research division chair Endah Murwani said during the dissemination of the results of the survey in Bandung, West Java, on Wednesday.
The figure from last year's survey, which involved nine universities, was 3.27. Endah said this year's survey was conducted over three different periods and involved 1,200 respondents and 120 expert viewers from 12 cities in Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Bali and Maluku Islands.
The index resulting from the second period of survey from May-June 2016 was 3.40.
"Thus, there is a slight increase in the third period to 3.56," said Endah, adding that the programs surveyed were broadcast by 15 television stations with national coverage.
Of nine categories of television programs surveyed, only two had indexes above the set standard. They were children's programs (4.09) and cultural tourism programs (4.31).
Three categories showing the lowest indexes were infotainment programs (3.01), sinetron (soap operas) or movies (3.08) and comedies (3.15). The remaining four categories were news, talk shows, variety shows and religious programs, which had indexes ranging from 3.36 to 3.94.
Different indicators were used for each broadcast category in the research. The indicators used for the news category were monitoring, critical power improvement, public interest, factuality, accuracy, independence, news balance and content of judging opinion.
For talk show programs, the balance aspect was monitored. The survey showed that in terms of discourse talk show programs did not yet offer solutions.
"Interesting findings were discovered in the quality index of infotainment programs whose indicators included information provision, protection of public interest, respect for personal life, respect for moral norms and values, respect for particular persons and groups, freedom from violence, verification and respect for sources.
Endah said the indicator of respect for personal life had the lowest index of 2.64, followed by protecting public interest the index of which was 2.69. "These aspects need attention," she said.
Responding on the results of the survey, KPI commissioner Ubaidillah, who oversees the institutional division, said the results of each period had been conveyed to the broadcasting institutions in the hope that they could improve the quality of their broadcast programs.
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/12/02/quality-tv-programs-substandard-survey.html