Old Media Still Widely Accessed by Indonesian Citizens

According to the Reuters Institute, Indonesian citizens still access traditional media, including television (TV), print media, and radio.

At the beginning of 2025, TvOne was the most accessed or watched television media by Indonesian citizens in a week, with a proportion of 39% of the total respondents. Calculated based on usage of at least three days per week, this media also had the highest selection rate at 28%.

Print media, namely Harian Kompas, ranked second, chosen by 36% of respondents. Following this, Metro TV had a selection rate of 34%.

Kompas TV followed in fourth place with a proportion of 31%. Then, SCTV at 28%.

The remaining top 10 include TransTV, CNN Indonesia, RCTI, Indosiar, and Media Indonesia, with the following details:

1. TVOne (television): 39%
2. Kompas (print): 36%
3. Metro TV (television): 34%
4. Kompas TV (television): 31%
5. SCTV (television): 28%
6. TransTV (television): 26%
7. CNN Indonesia (television): 24%
8. RCTI (television): 23%
9. Indosiar (television): 16%
10. Media Indonesia (print): 15%.

According to the Reuters Institute's analysis, the use of news sources from print and television media continues to be eroded by social media, especially after Prabowo Subianto's inauguration as president in October 2024.

The general election the previous February did provide a temporary boost for traditional media, but there was still an overall decline in interest in all news sources, including online media and social media.

The Reuters Institute also highlighted the evolving funding in the Indonesian media industry. It stated that although there were no major media closures in 2024, Indonesian media continued to experience declining advertising revenue.

One factor contributing to the decline in industry revenue was the government's budget cuts for the free nutritious food program (MBG) in schools by Rp306.7 trillion (US$3.1 billion).

"This had an unforeseen impact on the health of news organizations, as government advertising at the national and provincial levels dried up," wrote the Reuters Institute in its Digital News Report 2025, quoted on Tuesday (24/6/2025).

In the Reuters Institute's view, this policy has led Indonesian media companies to experiment with new partnerships, electronic payment models, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI), as media organizations are starting to use AI for everything.

"AI [is used] from writing headlines and keywords [for search], to AI news anchors and AI-generated Muslim prayer readings," wrote the Reuters Institute.

For information, the Digital News Report 2025 survey specifically for Indonesia targeted 2,028 respondents conducted online in January-February 2025. A total of 97,055 were surveyed from several countries this year.

(Read: Indonesia's Most Read Online Media in Early 2025)