RCTI
RCTI (Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia) is an Indonesian free-to-air television network based in West Jakarta. It is best known for its soap operas, celebrity bulletins, news, and sports programmes. It was first launched in 1989, originally as a local pay television network that broadcasts mostly foreign programmes, before switching to free-to-air a year later. History. In October 1987, state broadcaster TVRI lost its monopoly when the government allowed private television networks to begin broadcasting. RCTI was officially inaugurated on the morning of 24 August 1989 by President Suharto as Indonesia's first privately owned commercial  television network. Evening programming was launched by Minister of Information Harmoko. RCTI was initially broadcast to Greater Jakarta area as a local pay television channel and gained a nationwide terrestrial license a year later. Prior to 1994, RCTI mostly aired foreign programmes as it cost less compared to self-produced programmes, and to evoke the look and feel of a conventional pay television (which was a new and expensive technology in Indonesia at the time) . From 1989 to 1990, the station's subscription system requires an UHF set-top box, and in some areas, with a satellite dish. During this  time, the subscription system was "incorrectly" branded as a "pay-per-view", despite the fact that it works similarly as a conventional pay television that requires monthly subscription. RCTI was initially co-owned by PT Rajawali Wira Bhakti Utama (later Rajawali Corpora) and PT Bimantara Citra (later Global Mediacom, now known as PT Media Nusantara Citra (MNC)), thus its name. One of its commissioner at that time Indra Rukmana is the husband of Tutut Soeharto, the founder and ex-owner of its eventual sister network TPI. It is completely owned by MNC, which also owns GTV, MNCTV, and iNews, both  private Indonesian television networks. RCTI now has 47 relay stations around Indonesia and reaches over 180 million viewers. Programming. The flagship news program is "Seputar iNews" (formerly "Seputar Indonesia"), which has morning, lunchtime and late-night editions. RCTI also broadcasts quiz shows, including the Indonesian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire", which ran from 2001 to 2006. Animated shows include the original "Aikatsu!" series, "Doraemon" and "Crayon Shin-chan", "Aikatsu!" and "Crayon Shin-Chan" have since been replaced by locally produced "Kiko". RCTI currently broadcast several daily soap operas (known as "Layar Drama Indonesia", showing in many titles ), as well as occasional sport programmes and localized version of talent shows, such as "Indonesian Idol", "Rising Star Indonesia", and "MasterChef Indonesia". Other segments. Like other Indonesian television stations, RCTI shows Subuh and Maghrib prayer calls ("adhan") in some cities, including Jakarta and Bandung. The prayer calls are best known for using a recording of Sheikh Ali Ahmed Mulla, a well-known "muezzin" of Masjid al-Haram in Saudi Arabia Some RCTI stations also broadcast local programming. For example, RCTI Surabaya airs "Seputar iNews Jatim", while in Bandung, "Seputar iNews Jabar" is aired. The Palembang station shows "Seputar iNews Sumsel , the Batam station shows Seputar iNews Kepri" and the Medan station shows "Seputar iNews Sumut". They are mostly shown during the final half-hour of "Seputar iNews Pagi" (05:30-06:00 WIB or, depending on the local area, 06:30-07:00 WITA and 07:30-08:00 WIT) Overseas broadcasting. RCTI is available as a free-to-air channel in East Timor, but only in Dili and other cities such as Ermera and Baucau. RCTI is also available in Malaysia as a free-to-air channel in Johor Bahru, and in Singapore as a free-to-air channel by using antenna. RCTI is the  only Indonesian free-to-air TV channel to be broadcast free-to-air outside Indonesia. Indonesian drama series like "Bunga di Tepi Jalan", "Bintang", "Liontin" and "Pernikahan Dini" currently air on Astro Aruna, a channel on the Singaporean SingTel mio TV 24 Hours IPTV Pay TV Service, but these were broadcast on RCTI on 2001, 2005 and 2006 respectively. Notable broadcasts. "Obama Eksklusif RCTI Bersama Putra Nababan" ("Exclusive Interview with Barack Obama") is a television program that aired in March 2010, showing an interview between Indonesian journalist Putra Nababan and President Barack Obama. According to the president, it was probably  the first interview ever done by Indonesian television in the White House. The interview covered the partnership between Indonesia and the United States and the president's experiences during his childhood in Indonesia. This show won an award at the 2011 Panasonic Gobel Awards.