When the Greedy Giant Tumbling Down: Analyzing Nickelodeon's Spatialization Practice in Indonesia

Abstract

The developments of technology and globalization have made the emergence of various changes in media industry. In the entertainment sector various children programs can be broadcasted easily in Indonesia through the cable television industry. Unfortunately, the market share of cable industry is currently experiencing sluggishness. It encourages Nickelodeon to apply certain ways to keep its products dominance in Indonesia. Using spatialization approach in the study of the political economy media, this article aims to describe how Nickelodeon, maintains its product dominance to face that condition. From descriptive qualitative analysis conducted on the news in the mass media and the national company website, found the tendency of localizing strategic alliance both with national companies in the media and non-media industries. Cooperation built between Nickelodeon and the media industry (MNC Group) creates Indonesian-language cartoons and special shows for Indonesian children. Meanwhile, cooperation with non-media companies (Telkomsel and Campina) creates a corporate community base that supports the marketing of Nickelodeon products. The implications of Nickelodeon's collaboration with Telkomsel in the creation of mobile applications are discussed in this article as the social impact of spatialization practices resulting in imbalance of accessing information.