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Dodi Cahya was a keyboardist back home in Cirebon, West Java. But since he moved to Jakarta and started working as a taxi driver for Blue Bird, the 35-year-old father of one doesn’t have time to play anymore.

However, when he does crave the music, he turns to TPI, a private television station that often broadcasts music programs, particularly those of Dodi’s favorite genre, dangdut.

“I love the dangdut shows on TPI, especially ‘KDI’ [a dangdut contest on the TV station],” he said. “I used to send a lot of SMS text messages to vote for the contestants.”

Sutirah, a 21-year-old shopkeeper in a South Jakarta mall, is also a fan.

“Their dangdut program, ‘KDI,’ is the best,” Sutirah, or Tira, said. “I’ve seen a few dangdut shows on other TV [stations] but none was as good as the ones on TPI.”

When it was first launched at the beginning of 1991, TPI, short for Televisi Pendidikan Indonesia (Indonesian Education Television), broadcast only educational programs. But in 1997, TPI turned its focus to family entertainment, targeting the middle to lower classes.

Its embrace of all things dangdut was part of that shift. The wailing mix of Hindi, Arabic and Malay musical influences, often performed by female singers wearing skintight costumes and dancing suggestively, is perceived as the soundtrack for Indonesia’s working classes. TPI has even been renamed “dangdut television” by many.

The shift to entertainment television and the dangdut strategy has not gone unrewarded. In a 2005 survey by AC Nielsen, TPI ranked first among Indonesian television stations with a 16.6 percent share of the audience. As many as 158 million Indonesians were said to watch the station’s programs. However, over the last four years, TPI’s share of the market has dropped to 11 percent, and it currently sits fifth out of 10 local broadcasters.

“Our programs are designed for and targeted at middle- to lower-class Indonesians,” said Wijaya Kusuma Subroto, corporate secretary for TPI. “We are the [private] TV station with the most Malay and Indonesian programs.

“That is why our tagline is ‘Makin Indonesia, Makin Asik Aja’ [‘More Indonesia, More Fun’].”

But dangdut fans such as Dodi and Tira may have to prepare for some bad news should their favorite TV station lose its battle over a bankruptcy case in the Central Jakarta Commercial Court.

TPI’s debt has reached Rp 1.2 trillion ($127 million), according to local news reports, and it owes money to more than 60 creditors. Some of the biggest creditors include Crown Capital Global Limited, with Rp 498.7 billion, Asia Venture Finance, Rp 97.1 billion, and Maestro Venture Limited, Rp 41.9 billion, according to local newspaper Kompas.

Last month, the court declared TPI bankrupt after the Singapore-based Crown Capital Global filed a lawsuit against the broadcaster. Crown Capital Global says in its lawsuit that it loaned $53 million to TPI in December 1996 and that the TV station failed to repay the loan when it was due at the end of 2006.

TPI appealed the commercial court’s decision at the Supreme Court and is hoping to hear a verdict in its favor in December.

“We don’t want to interfere in the judges’ decision, but we think, based on what we analyzed, the judges were not accurate in this case,” said TPI’s Wijaya.

TPI’s director of finance and technology, Ruby Panjaitan, was quoted by news portal Okezone as saying on Sunday that the decision by the commercial court “seemed to be forced.”

“The verdict was based on the assumption of the judges that TPI did not fulfill the obligation to Crown Capital Global,” Okezone reported Ruby as saying.

“TPI doesn’t have any debts,” Wijaya said. “There is no record that we have debt to any parties from the 2003 annual report until now.”

Wijaya said he remained “optimistic we will win in the Supreme Court.”

But should TPI lose its appeal, many dangdut fans fear that a termination of TPI may mean serious damage to the popularity of their preferred music.

“There are no other TV [stations] that seem to be devoted to dangdut,” Dodi said. “I just hope that TPI will win the case so dangdut shows can still be seen on TV.”

Another dangdut fan, Deni Meri Nasution, said that turning to TPI after a hard day of work as an ojek, or motorcycle taxi, driver has become a hard habit to break.

“I love dangdut and I can see that only on TPI,” said the 42-year-old. “I tune in to TPI a lot more often than I do other TV stations. I only switch to other stations when watching the news. ”

And dangdut stars could take a hit in the wallet if the station is forced to close.

“I am sad and worried as TPI is the only station that seems to specialize in presenting dangdut shows,” said dangdut star Saipul Jamil. “[TPI] is our farm, our field. If they close the field, it will automatically reduce our income.

“I hope that this will not happen to TPI. And if they really had to shut down, I hope there will be another TV station willing to accommodate dangdut the way TPI does.”

Saipul started his career in dangdut six years ago by taking part in a music program called “Dangdut Yok!” (“Let’s Go Dangdut!”) on TPI. As his fame increased, he began regularly hosting dangdut shows on the station.

“They have really supported me,” he said.

Veteran dangdut performer and song writer Mansyur S said that although he did not understand the problems TPI was facing, he believed that a termination, should the Supreme Court’s verdict go against the station, would have serious consequences on the dangdut scene.

“People, dangdut fans, ask me where would dangdut go if TPI shuts down,” said Mansyur, who started singing commercially in 1962. “And I guess there will be an impact on the income [of dangdut singers] as dangdut is still a huge thing in this country. But this should not discourage dangdut singers. There must be a lot of ways [to make up for the loss of income].”

True dangdut fans are hoping against the shutdown of “dangdut television.” Like ojek driver Deni, they are keeping their fingers crossed.

“But should it really come to an end, I hope there will be a replacement, a new TV station with a different name but with the same programs [as TPI],” Deni said. “Especially the dangdut.”

Dangdut diva Iis Dahlia is probably one of the few dangdut stars who isn’t worried about TPI’s future.

“I’m not afraid or worried because I believe there must be always be a way,” the 37-year-old said. “But I think it all depends on us too, the people behind the dangdut music industry.”

Iis said those in the industry shared some of the blame for other TV stations not being interested in including dangdut shows in their programming, because the artists weren’t producing enough new material.

“I can’t blame them for that,” Iis said. “How can you make a dangdut show when you have nothing new to show people? If we were more productive, other broadcasters would possibly take on dangdut.”

However, having been in the industry for almost 20 years, Iis also said she could understand why performers had been unproductive.

“The government’s tax increase on CDs and cassettes has caused an increase in prices,” said Iis, who has released 23 albums. “And this, of course, has hurt the purchasing power of dangdut lovers, who are mostly lower-class people. Unable to buy original recordings, they buy pirated products.

“So we [performers] work hard to feed those that pirate stuff.”

Iis said she did not expect much from the government in dealing with piracy.

“Fortunately, there are a lot of ways to make money in times like this. There are off-air shows, programs on radio stations, regional TV stations, and the RBT [ringback tone] industry in which dangdut has outnumbered all other musical genres,” Iis said.