Battle of the month: Hary vs Tutut

The BIG Asia broadcasting intrigue out there at the moment involves Indonesian broadcaster TPI... and who will win the increasingly ugly battle over control of the free-TV station. 

At the heart of the latest tug of war are newly risen (or maybe just newly public) ambitions of Siti “Tutut” Hardiyanti Rukmana, the eldest daughter of former president Suharto and a one-time Indonesian media queen. 

And it looks like the queen wants part of her empire back...

Standing firmly in her way is media king Hary Tanoesoedibjo, who, in the wake of the Asian financial crisis, gathered together Indonesia’s thriving, ailing and headed-for-dead media properties over the past few years and fashioned the Rp3.9 trillion/US$429 million PT Multimedia Nusantara Citra (MNC) empire.


And the king shows no sign of giving in to what he says are “unwarranted and invalid” claims.


The ownership tussle has, apparently, been brewing behind the scenes for ages. The argument has its roots in 2002, when Tutut appointed PT Berkah Karya Bersama to help her deal with TPI’s debts. She is now claiming that the appointment was misused to appropriate a 75% ownership of TPI.


In a statement at the end of June, MNC said PT Berkah Karya Bersama legitimately acquired a 75% stake in TPI in 2005. The following year, Berkah Karya Bersama’s stake was acquired by MNC. No one then or since had disputed MNC’s stake in TPI, MNC said.

So why has it gone all public and so ugly now? 

Well, it looks like Tutut might be emboldened by a separate graft issue the Tanoesoedibjo family are fending off. 

The charges relate to a website owned, and allegedly fraudulently operated to the tune of about US$45 million, by Tanoesoedibjo’s brother Hartono. Hartono and former Justice Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra were charged at the end of June... and Tutut made her move.  

There’s little question that, whatever else is happening, MNC is at the top of its broadcast game in Indonesia.

Under Hary’s reign, MNC’s three free-TV stations audience share rose to 35% last year, up from 32% in 2008. Revenues for the first three months of this year were up 16% to Rp1.01 trillion/US$112 million over the same quarter in 2009 on the back of a 37% increase in advertising revenues. 

Terrestrial station Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia (RCTI) led Indonesia’s free-TV broadcasting rankings in May this year, with a total audience share of 15.5%, according to The Nielsen Company’s latest data for Indonesia.

TPI maintains a respectable place in the rankings of 15 terrestrial channels. In May, TPI’s audience share was 11.4%, which put it in fourth place after RCTI (15.5% share), SCTV (15.4% share), and Trans TV (11.8% share). 

MNC also says it has the country’s largest content library, including entertainment and news, and is adding more than 10,000 hours a year split between in-house production, commissions and multimedia.  

MNC is also the country’s most active buyer, including, among other acquisitions, significant deals with Disney and MTV. 

Who is likely to give way first? We’re not putting any money on any outcome other than the bets we’re placing that this is going to be long-running, legally winding and very very nasty.