SBS Will Produce Running Man Indonesia

JAKARTA - After being successful in China and Vietnam, the SBS television station plans to expand its wings to Indonesia. In Indonesia, SBS will start producing the variety show Running Man.

This agreement was made by SBS as the owner of the event with FCL to produce the first season of Running Man Indonesia. FCL is an investment company from the Sinar Mas Group which also houses Genflix.

"SBS officially entered the largest Southeast Asian market in Indonesia after China and Vietnam. Since we entered after three years of research and investigation, we will be successful anyhow and work hard to contribute to the expansion of Hallyu, "said Kim Yong Jae as Team Leader of SBS Global Contents.

It is planned that the first season of Running Man Indonesia will begin production and broadcast in mid-2020. As well as broadcast on an Indonesian television station, Running Man Indonesia will also be broadcast via streaming services.

The reason why Indonesia is being looked at by SBS, is the next country for the production of the variety show Running Man. Because Indonesia is one of the countries in Southeast Asia that has successfully received the Korean Wave, this makes it possible to bring the success of Running Man to the country.

After all, this is not the first time Indonesia has been in contact with Running Man. In 2014, Yoo Jae Suk and his Running Man gang visited Indonesia several times as part of an international episode series.

In 2017, the Running Man team returned to Indonesia, especially to Yogyakarta as part of their mission. In fact, this year, Running Man also held a fan meeting in Indonesia in collaboration with Tokopedia.

SBS television stations also have SBS-IN for their broadcast channels in Indonesia. Reporting from Soompi, SBS hopes the collaboration this time can increase the Southeast Asian market after China and Vietnam.

"I hope that Running Man Indonesia can make big waves through OTT, which is increasing in Indonesia, and try to combine OTT and broadcasting," said Jimmy Kim, CEO of FCL's OTT for Genflix services.

Adapted Impressions in Indonesia

Long before Running Man Indonesia, our country already had several variety shows of its own, namely Mission X on Trans TV and Secret Mission on RCTI. Both of them have a similar concept to Running Man, namely various missions and questions and answers according to the theme being held.

Unfortunately, the two programs did not receive a positive response from the Indonesian audience. Not a few claim that the show is just a rip off of Running Man, which has minimal production.

In their home country, Running Man achieved a rating that is not big enough when compared to other variety shows. This year alone, they achieved an average of 7 percent for each episode.

But this has not discouraged Running Man from continuing to broadcast until now. Running Man is a variety show that puts a mission game in front of each episode. They also always invite various public figures to participate in the mission.

SBS also had a plan to bring the Indonesian version of Fantastic Duo for MNC TV and Good Friends on SCTV in the coming year. Who do you think is suitable to be a member?