Commodification of political economy content in Indonesian private TV: The homogenization of news and the rise of social commodification

The political economy of media examines how economic and political power structures and dynamics influence the production, distribution, and consumption of media. This study analyzes five major private television stations in Indonesia: METRO TV, RCTI, SCTV, TRANS7, and TVONE. The research aims to analyze commodification (of content, audience, and labor), structuration, and spatialization (horizontal and vertical) of private television in Indonesia in the post-New Order era and to develop a political economy model of private television in Indonesia. This study adopts Vincent Mosco’s political economy of media approach and employs qualitative methods with two primary techniques. First, in-depth interviews with 24 informants, consisting of 22 private television workers and 2 officials from the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI). Second, qualitative descriptive analysis through video content analysis to explore how these five television stations present news to the public, advertisers, and audiences. Data were analyzed using ATLAS.ti software.The findings indicate that in content commodification, news homogenization occurs across various media platforms, where news serves not only as an information source but also as a commercial tool. In audience commodification, netizens’ reviews influence public opinion formation. Labor commodification reveals the emergence of a correspondent system and multitasking among television workers. Structuration reflects the influence of regulations, ideology, gender communication, racial communication, social change, and media hegemony. Horizontal spatialization involves expansion into online media, print, and radio, while vertical spatialization includes expansion into hospitality, banking, property, and entertainment sectors. In conclusion, RCTI and METRO TV exhibit stronger political economy dominance than the other three stations. Additionally, a new form of commodification, social commodification, is identified, where public engagement in digital interactions plays a crucial role in news production on Indonesian private television.