Wishnutama Kusubandio (born 4 May 1970) is a former Indonesian journalist. He was co-founder and CEO of NET. Mediatama Television, from founding on 18 May 2013 until his resignation on 22 October 2019. He served as Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy under Joko Widodo between 23 October 2019 and 22 December 2020.

Early life and education

Wishnutama was born in Jayapura,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

on 4 May. He spent his junior high at SMP Tarakanita 5 in Jakarta. After he graduated, he moved to Australia and went to

Kooralbyn International School The Kooralbyn International School (TKIS) is an independent, co-educational, boarding and day school, located in Kooralbyn, about 64 km south of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. TKIS is the only school in Australia to have produced two Youn ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, then continued studying at the International School Singapore. After finishing ISS, he joined the Military College of

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

at Norwich University in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. Later on, he took a major in Liberal Arts at

Mount Ida College Mount Ida College was a private college in Newton, Massachusetts. In 2018, the University of Massachusetts Amherst acquired the campus and renamed it the Mount Ida Campus of UMass Amherst. History The Mount Ida School for Girls, once a high sc ...

and Communication at Emerson College,

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, USA. He attended a television production course at Emerson College, participated in various executive education programs including GE Crotonville Leadership Institute, New York and Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts.

Career

Wishnutama took a part-time job as a production assistant at New England Cable News. After he graduated from Emerson College, he got a job at WHDH7, an NBC affiliate in

. In 1994, he returned to Indonesia and worked as an On Air Promo Supervisor in the Programming Department at

Indosiar PT Indosiar Visual Mandiri, commonly known as Indosiar, is an Indonesian over-the-air television network. It broadcasts nationwide on UHF and can be received throughout the Indonesian archipelago on analog PAL television sets, established on ...

(then-owned by Salim Group). A year later, he became a Production Assistant and went on to become a News Executive Producer. In 1999, he then advanced to Production Manager. During his time at

, he had contributed to produce several programs such as '' Pesta'', '' Gebyar BCA'', ''Patroli'', '' Halo Polisi'', '' Satu Jam Bersama'', and ''Saksi'' In 2001, he decided to move to

Trans TV Trans TV is an Indonesian free-to-air television network based in South Jakarta that was launched on December 15, 2001 and owned by Chairul Tanjung. Programming consists of newscasts, movies, drama series, variety shows, quiz shows, and childre ...

as Vice President of Production and after two years, he became Operational Director; a year later he was promoted to Managing Director. In 2006, he was appointed as a President Director (CEO) at TV7 (which later on changed its name to

Trans7 Trans7 (pronounced ''Trans Tujuh'' in Indonesian, formerly known as TV7) is an Indonesian free-to-air television network owned by Trans Media, a part of Trans Corp, which in turn a subsidiary of CT Corp. For the first time, Trans7 was the officia ...

). Two years later, he became a President Director (CEO) at

and

until he resigned in 2012. During his leading at

Trans Corp PT Trans Media Corpora is an Indonesian media corporation that is a subsidiary of Trans Corp, a part of CT Corp, owned by Chairul Tanjung. Trans Media was initially founded as a subsidiary of Trans Corp, a liaison between the television network ...

(Trans7 and Trans TV), he had produced several programs including ''

Extravaganza An extravaganza is a literary or musical work (often musical theatre) usually containing elements of burlesque, pantomime, music hall and parody in a spectacular production and characterized by freedom of style and structure. It sometimes also ...

, Dunia Lain, Termehek-Mehek, Opera Van Java, On The Spot,'' and '' Indonesia Mencari Bakat'' After he left Trans Corp, Wishnutama and Agus Lasmono established a new television station in Indonesia. A year later, on 26 May 2013, NET. officially began airing. On 2 November 2017, Wishnutama officially became a Commissioner for Kumparan along with Budiono Darsono, Hugo Diba, Ine Yordenaya, Heru Tjatur, and Yusuf Arifin. He was appointed as the Creative Director of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the Asian Games 2018. On 23 October 2019, Wishnutama was elected as Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy by Joko Widodo. He was replaced by

Sandiaga Uno Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno (born 28 June 1969) is an Indonesian businessman, investor and politician who is the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, and was the Deputy Governor of Jakarta. He was elected along with Anies Baswedan in the 20 ...

on 22 December 2020.

Experiences

* Production Assistant New England Cable News, Massachusetts, USA (1993) *Assistant Director On Air Promotion WHDH, Boston, Massachusetts, USA (1994) *On Air Promo Supervisor, Programming Dept. Indosiar (1994-1995) *Producer/Director, Production Dept, Indosiar (1995-1997) *Executive Producer, Indosiar (1997-1998) *Section Head Production Dept, Indosiar (1998-1999) *Production Manager, Indosiar (1999-2001) *Production and Facilities Division Head, PT Televisi Transformasi Indonesia (2001-2012) *Director of Operation (COO), PT Televisi Transformasi Indonesia (2004-2005) *Vice President Director, PT Televisi Transformasi Indonesia (2005-2008) *President Director (CEO), PT Duta Visual Nusantara Tivi Tujuh (TRANS7) (2006-2008) *Director of Production, PT Duta Visual Nusantara Tivi Tujuh (TRANS7) (2006-2012) *President Director (CEO), PT Televisi Transformasi Indonesia (TRANS TV) (2008-2012) *Director PT Agranet (Detik.com) (2011-2012) *President Director (CEO) PT Net Mediatama Televisi (2013–2019) *Advisory Board Members Asian Television Awards (2016–present) *Creative Director, Opening and Closing Ceremonies Asian Games 2018 (2016–2018) *Chairman ATVNI (National Television Association Indonesia) (2017–2019) *Commissioner Kumparan.com (2017–2019) *Commissioner

Tokopedia PT Tokopedia is an Indonesian e-commerce company. Tokopedia is a subsidiary of a new holding company called GoTo (Indonesian company), GoTo, following a merger with Gojek on 17 May 2021. It is one of the most visited e-commerce platforms in Indo ...

(2019, 2021–present) *National Scout Advisory Board (2018-2023) *Chairman PT Net Mediatama Televisi (2019) *Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia (2019–2020) *President Commissioner PT Telekomunikasi Seluler (

Telkomsel PT Telekomunikasi Selular ( trading as Telkomsel) is an Indonesian wireless network provider founded in 1995 and is owned by Telkom Indonesia (65%) and Singtel (35%). It is headquartered in South Jakarta. Telkomsel is the largest cellular ...

) (2021–present) *Commissioner PT GoTo

Gojek PT Gojek Indonesia (stylized in all lower case and stylized ''j'' as goȷek, formerly styled as GO-JEK) is an Indonesian on-demand multi-service platform and digital payment technology group based in Jakarta. Gojek was first established in Ind ...

Tokopedia Tbk ( GoTo) (2022–present) During nearly 20 years of work, he has won several awards, including the

Asian Television Award The Asian Television Awards (launched in 1996), is an appreciation to recognize and reward programming and production excellence in the Asian television industry. Held every December, the Awards comprises 56 categories across news, documentari ...

and

Panasonic Awards The Panasonic Gobel Awards (formerly Panasonic Awards), are the annual awards presented to television programs and performances in Indonesia based on a people's choice poll. The first award was held in 1997 in partnership with ''Tabloid Citra'' and ...

. He was chosen as the Best CEO in Indonesia 2010 by SWA magazine. In 2015, Wishnutama received an award of Indonesia Marketing Champion 2015 for the Broadcast, TV Pay & Media Sector by MarkPlus Conference. This award is given to 18 people who excel in 18 industrial sectors. A year later, he was ranked 149th in the 500 Most Influential CEOs in the world according to Richtopia.com. He was also named the Best Chief Strategy Execution Officer in the category of Best Execution Leaders by the (SPEx2) Awards in 2016. On 27 September 2017, Wishnutama received an award in Best Digital Talent category for the sub category of Digital Business Leader by Bubu Awards. NET. CJ's official website was listed as a nominee in Best Website category for the sub category News and Entertainment. He was selected to receive an award from Ideafest 2017 x Samsung Galaxy Note8 for Indonesia's Influential Person in Creative Industry (October 2017).

Awards

* Indonesia Youngster Inc. by SWA Magazine *''Best CEO'' by SWA Magazine tahun 2010 *The Best Chief Strategy Execution Officer Across All Industries by Tempo Media Group * The Winner of 2016 Strategy-Into-Performance Execution Excellence (SPEX2) Awards

Indonesian National Television Association (ATVNI)

Wishnutama is also listed as a Chairman of the Board of ATVNI (''Asosiasi Televisi Nasional Indonesia''), which was officially launched on 10 September 2017. Three national television media; PT Cipta Megaswara Televisi (Kompas TV), PT Net Mediatama Televisi (NET.), and PT Metropolitan Televisindo (RTV) signed the establishment of the Indonesian National Television Association (ATVNI). ATVNI aims to provide more open information that led to the birth of content that is not educational and can not be accounted for. ATVNI is established by the deed number 59 dated 25 August 2017 and taking Edward Suharjo Wiryomartani as the notary. ATVNI has a main purpose to be independent as well as to provide the objective information to audiences and avoid the interests of SARA, pornography, and uphold the social, legal, and moral norms. Beside Wishnutama, the committee also consists of Mochmad Riyanto as General Secretary, Yonatan Stefanus Palulungan as Treasurer, Satrio as Supervisory Board, Charlie Kasim as Vice President Supervisory, and Azuan Syahril as a Member of Supervisory Board.

Personal life

On 20 of September 2015, he married actress and presenter Gista Putri. In his leisure time, he formed a band called Soulful Corp. He is also passionate about photography.

References

External links

* * {{Cite web, url=https://netcj.co.id, title=NET. CJ, website=NET. CJ Indonesian journalists Living people Indonesian chief executives 1970 births Government ministers of Indonesia Onward Indonesia Cabinet Mount Ida College alumni Emerson College alumni