Television and mass media in Vietnam

Television in Vietnam began to appear in the mid-1960s in Saigon (in the former Republic of Vietnam), with the appearance of Saigon Television Station. In 1970, in the North, Voice of Vietnam broadcast the first test television program. In the late 1970s, color television was introduced and broadcast experimentally. Today, television in Vietnam is available in many modes of broadcasting, with many national and local channels, broadcast or pay with more than 200 channels available to viewers. Vietnam completed the digital television transitions on December 28, 2020.

Television in Vietnam is considered a type of journalism, managed under the Press Law by the Ministry of Information and Communications of Vietnam, according to which the law does not allow private businesses to own television stations, but "is allowed to associate in journalistic activities with other press agencies, legal entities, and individuals. have a business registration appropriate to the field of association", allowing private entities to cooperate with broadcasters operated by the Government of Vietnam, creating the policy of television socialization.

Television is currently one of the largest mass media channels in Vietnam, as surveys show that 8 out of 10 people watch television daily. However, television is being challenged by new forms of media, seeing a decline in broadcaster revenues as well as a shift in audiences to services such as video on demand or social networks on the internet.

In the South
Television was first introduced in October 1959 in the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) during an exhibition in Saigon. In this pilot program, the artists sat in the military microphone studio, the audience watched through two screens located in the exhibition center from 19:30 to 20:30 every day. The weekly newspaper "Cinema" published in November 1959 said: "Once a television station is established, we believe that there will be a lot of people buying televisions so they can keep up with the television broadcast programmes.”

In 1965, Saigon Television Station (THVN), the first television station of Vietnam, was established. On January 22, 1966, the first television program was broadcast, and then officially aired in the South on February 7 of the same year. Black-and-white television station with the FCC television specification, 4.5 MHz voice modulation. In the early days, due to the lack of any TV tower, the broadcast was done with stratovision (the use of a helicopter to broadcast). Programs, including news, would be recorded on magnetic tape and then transferred onto the four-engine Super Constellation aircraft. Every evening, this plane carrying equipment leaves Tan Son Nhat airport to a stable altitude of 3,150 m at a location about 32 km southeast of Saigon, and from there flies on an unchanged, nightly repeating route at a steady speed of 271 km/h. Television waves from helicopters can be received in places as far away from Saigon as Da Nang, Ca Mau or Phnom Penh, but Saigon and neighboring provinces would have the clearest picture and sound quality.

Alongside the establishment of Vietnam Television, the radio-television system of the US Army, which was in South Vietnam at that time, was also formed. This station was originally called AFRTS (American Forces Radio and Television Service), in 1967 changed to AFVN (American Forces Vietnam Network). Broadcast in English on the 11th frequency band, it was meant to serve American soldiers working in the South. After that, AFVN built a TV tower at 9 Hong Thap Tu (now Nguyen Thi Minh Khai), which is also the station's headquarters. On October 25, 1966, Vietnam's first television tower was completed and put into use, replacing the previous broadcast by helicopter. The tower is 128m tall, where the 25 kW Channel 9 (FCC) broadcast antenna of THVN (known as THVN9 since then), Channel 11 and FM 99.9 MHz of AFVN is located. In addition to the main station in Saigon, the Republic of Vietnam also has four local television stations in Huế, Quy Nhon, Nha Trang and Can Tho. By 1972, Dac Lo Television was established, this is a private television company belonging to Catholic Church of the Republic of Vietnam and operated by Jesuits. Dac Lo Television does not have its own separate broadcast channel, but only produces educational programs to broadcast on THVN9, focusing on educational content and disseminating knowledge for the people, especially the poor.

In the North
While the television coverage of the US and the Saigon Government in the South is increasing day by day, television has not appeared in the North at all. According to journalist Hoàng Tùng, former Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan (The People) newspaper, Head of the Central Propaganda Department, in the 1960s, every time he went on a business trip abroad, he watched TV from In other countries, President Ho Chi Minh often reminds cadres to prepare all conditions to build the television industry. Implementing that idea, Vietnam Television Film Studio was established in January 1968, under the General Department of Information, with the task of producing television films (16 mm) for sending to the public. for foreign television stations, mainly about the Vietnam War, and at the same time prepare to build a television industry.

That year, during an international reception, Ho Chi Minh asked cinematographer Phan The Hung: "When will you let our people watch television?", because it's not enough to just make a movie to send abroad, it's a television broadcast for all to see. The government even planned to give the General Department of Information a plot of land near Chua Boc (Hanoi) to build a television station, but that was not possible.

To prepare for the experimental television broadcast, a television preparation team was established with the requirements of building a minimum television technical infrastructure, including a studio with electronic cameras, television transmitters, antennas television receiver, etc. Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV), at that time, has sent a number of officials to Cuba and other countries Socialist system to study about television broadcasting. VOV, meanwhile, launched several television experiments with improved radio equipments (converting two radio transmitters into one television and one voice transmitter) and self-assembled two useabled super orthicon cameras from Moscow Television (former Soviet Union), and named them as "Heaven Horse" (Vietnamese: Ngựa Trời). This name is derived from the name of the homemade gun of the Liberation Army of South Vietnam used in combatances. The two cameras, respectively, with model numbers NT1, NT2, can produce images despite some incomplete features.

On the evening of September 7, 1970, the first signals of VOV's television service has been come to transmission from Studio M of 58 Quan Su Street, Hanoi, which is the headquarters of the VOV. By the year of 1971, VOV established its television department and experimentally transmitted television nationwide, first to Hanoi city. However, due to the fierce of Operation Linebacker II in Hanoi and the North Vietnam region as well, television activities had been suspended until 1973.

1975–1990: Post-war period, beginnings of color television
In the South, after the Paris Agreement of 1973 was implemented, AFVN station ceased to operate; all machinery and equipment were handed over to THVN9. The network of THVN9 has therefore expanded to the whole Republic of Vietnam. The station ceased operations on the night of April 29, 1975, the day before the Fall of Saigon. After Saigon fell, Radio the Voice of Vietnam and Liberation Radio A joined with Liberation Radio B in the Southeast region to take over the entire radio and television system left by the old regime. Saigon Television Station was renamed "Liberation Television Station"; aired again on the evening of May 1, 1975. At the same time, Dak Lo Television became the second base of Liberation Television Station, and resumed operation on October 3, 1975. On July 2, 1976, Saigon was officially renamed as Ho Chi Minh City, Liberation Television Station was changed to Ho Chi Minh City Television Station (HTV).

In the North, in 1976, the Television Center was built in Giang Vo (Hanoi), from here television began to be broadcast daily along with the construction of a television tower at column of 1200-metre hill in Tam Dao. In 1977, the Television Editorial Board separated from the Voice of Vietnam, established the "Central Television Station" (THTW) and moved its headquarters here. In 1976, Ho Chi Minh City Television Station experimented with color broadcasting. Two years later, in September 1978, THTW also began a limited-time trial of color television (SECAM system) for testing purposes, serving a limited number of its existing color television sets. audience at that time. To improve the team's level, Central also sent a team of 8 engineers to practice color television at Television of the German Democratic Republic in period of $1 1/2$ years. In addition, the station also built Tam Dao Transmission Station to cover the whole North and support the construction of local television stations.

Although Vietnam uses the French SECAM standard used in most socialist states as a broadcasting standard, the broadcasting system in the two north–south is completely different: the North uses the SECAM/CCIR D standard, while the South takes over the broadcasting standard. FCC/CCIR M of the US left. Therefore, in order to manage and unify the national broadcasting system, on May 12, 1977, the State established the Radio and Television Committee (upgrading TNVN station). In the organizational structure of the committee, there is the Institute for Research and Development of Broadcasting (or, commonly, Institute of Television) to study and solve the shortcomings in the unified system of mass media, mainly in television. The institute is headquartered in the South (at HTV's second campus) to facilitate coordination with HTV to solve the system transfer to unify the Radio - Television system in the whole country.

As a regional station in the South of Vietnam under the Vietnam Committee for Broadcasting, HTV has helped television stations in the southern provinces (also branches of the station before 1975) to restore facilities. or build more. With the help of THTU and HTV, a system of local television stations was gradually formed. In 1976, Vinh Television Station was established, followed by Television Station Da Nang, which was established on the basis of Hai Van broadcasting station (under Hue Television Station). In 1978, Thanh Hoa television was officially broadcast, along with that, Vinh television was transferred to the local People's Committee, becoming "Nghe Tinh Television" (now Nghe An Radio and Television Station - NTV). In early 1979, a television program called "Hanoi Television" began to be broadcast on national television, initially as a program to serve the people of the capital, broadcast monthly, then gradually moved to broadcast daily. This is the forerunner of today's Hanoi Radio and Television Broadcasting. In 1983, Hai Phong television and Quang Ninh television were officially broadcast. In 1985, Dong Thap Television became the second television station in the Southwest region after Can Tho. In 1991, it had to stop broadcasting because of financial problems, and rebroadcast back since 1997, Lam Dong Radio and Television Station has become the first station in the Central Highlands to broadcast, and the second station in the South to have a color television broadcasting system.

During this period, the media was not yet developed. Every day, THT and HTV exchanged video tapes via air-line. In addition, via road, THTU transmits video tapes to Hai Phong Television Station and neighboring provinces, as well as HTV transmits video tapes to Southern television stations. This resulted in the national television program being broadcast several days later. Although most of the programs at that time were produced by VTV or HTV, local stations also tried to interject a few programs for local people, supplementing national programs, mainly News. local. In the first half of the 1980s, color broadcasting by television stations began to take place. VTV officially switched to full-time color broadcasting in early August 1986, instead of just the previous special programs. At the same time, HTV started broadcasting more HTV7 channels to facilitate the switching of broadcasting systems. On the night of August 23, 1987, due to lack of money to renovate the old electrical system, a big fire broke out, burning down the entire TV center of HTV. However, the very next night, HTV switched to color broadcasting and ended the black and white system, creating a new historical turning point for Vietnamese television.

Sponsored by the Soviet Government, in July 1980, Hoa Sen 1 terrestrial satellite station (20 km from Phu Ly town) along with a microwave link with the relay station at Phu Xuyen (Ha Tay) has been completed to transmit signals to Bo Ho Post Office (Hoan Kiem) and Vietnam Television Station in Giang Vo. For the first time, Giang Vo Television Center has directly recorded the color image of the daily program in Moskva. The project was put into use on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Agreement on economic, scientific and technical cooperation and trade between Vietnam and the Soviet Union and the opening of the 1980 Summer Olympics.. Since then, international news from the Central Television of the Soviet Union has come daily to Vietnam, telecommunications and some images of Vietnam have reached the world.

During this period, Vietnam is a member of OIRT (Organization International of Radio and Television) - the broadcasting organization of socialist countries, led by the Soviet Union. Vietnamese television is required to use the SECAM color standard, the main system used in OIRT member countries, while most video recorders and signal processing equipment at the center use the PAL or PAL system. system, with the exception of some dedicated Soviet cameras using the SECAM system. At this time, the world's color television technology has 3 standards: NTSC, PAL, SECAM, of which the most prominent is the PAL system. Vietnamese television at that time wanted to convert to the PAL system, but it was not allowed. When the Soviet Union broke up, the OIRT organization also ceased to exist, the television stations decided to switch to PAL color television broadcasting.

1990–2007: Modernisation, television expansion & experimental transmit of digital television
On January 30, 1991, Government issued Decision No. 26/CP assigning the General Department of Post and Telecommunications to lease Intesputnik satellite to transmit radio and television signals. From 1991 Lunar New Year, the official transmission began by satellite coverage of the national television program for local stations to record and broadcast. Thanks to that, television stations in provinces and cities have had a growth in number. In 1994, Vietnamese television first explored the UHF band through the event. Song Be Radio and Television Station (the predecessor of two stations Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc) started broadcasting channel 25 UHF on September 2, 1994, leading to the response and application of a series of other television stations. This success has opened a new path for the television industry in the country.

VTV's VTV2 and VTV3 channels were broadcast in the absence of frequency bands, respectively; there were times when three VTV channels had to share the same channel frequency. As of March 31, 1998, VTV3 has been broadcasting on the separate satellite frequency, followed by VTV2 in 2001. Many local stations during this period mainly focused on relaying VTV2 because the coverage of VTV2 at that time was the worst among the three main channels of VTV.

During this period, many old provinces began to separate to form new provinces and cities; because of that, new television stations has been appeared, such as Da Nang Television Station (later VTV Da Nang), Quang Nam, Ha Giang, Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh, Tra Vinh, Binh Duong.... In the Central region, Phu Yen Television Station was established to solve the white area of television waves for the people, Ninh Thuan Radio and Television Station was also separated from Thuan Hai Radio and Television Station (now Binh Thuan Radio and Television Station).

Regarding television equipment, at this time, local TV stations often use Panasonic M camcorders (M7/M9/M1000/3000) using regular VHS tapes, and M9000 (using S-VHS tapes) & Sony camcorders (Betacams)/DVC) to film and broadcast programs. Regarding storage tapes, VTV & HTV used Ampex 2 Inch tapes to store broadcasts, the remaining stations used Betacam/VHS tapes to broadcast, in 1999, HTV was the first station to perform automatic transmission of broadcast tapes. motion. Regarding the equipment for rendering graphics through the nonlinear table, some major stations & local stations at that time had nonlinear tables, such as VTV & HTV (Amiga),.. while some smaller stations either made simpler graphics, or asked other stations/units to do it. Regarding transmitters, in the early 1990s, some local stations only broadcast with a capacity of less than 1 kW, later upgraded with foreign capital/support from major stations.

In the late 1990s, three digital television broadcasting standards appeared in the world: ATSC of the US (1995), DVB-T of Europe (1997) and DiBEG of Japan. Vietnamese television has to face a choice between these three standards. Finally, through the tests, the Science Council of Vietnam Television Station unanimously submitted to the station's leaders for signing a decision to choose a terrestrial digital television standard for Vietnam. On the afternoon of March 26, 2001, Mr. Ho Anh Dung - then General Director of Vietnam Television - officially signed the decision to choose the digital terrestrial television standard DVB-T.

From the beginning of January 2002, Binh Duong Radio and Television Station (BTV) started broadcasting the terrestrial digital television system (DVB-T, MPEG-2 compression standard) on 2 channels. 50 and 53 UHF with 16 channels. Soon after, VTC with 16 channels (UHF Channels 55, 56) appeared and HTV (UHF Channel 39 with 8 channels) was only experimental. In 2003, VTV started broadcasting 2 channels VTV1 and VTV3 according to DVB-T standard. Also at this time, BTV officially broadcast 24/24h channel BTV3 on digital, at position 50 UHF, creating the premise for television stations to broadcast 24/24h later. In 2004, VCTV started to launch DTH satellite digital television service, then provided broadband Internet service on DTH and Cable TV networks the following year. In the same year, VTC Digital Television was established and began to deploy digital television nationwide under the DVB-T standard.

2008–present: The rise of digital television and analog shut-off
2008 was the time when high-definition television began to appear in Vietnam, with HTVC cable television broadcasting channels HTV7, HTV9, FBNC adopting HD broadcasting equipment. After HTV, SCTV and VTC also adopted HD television alongside launching satellite broadcasting.

In June 2009, Vietnam Satellite Digital Television Company Limited (VSTV), a joint venture between VTV's Cable Television Technical Center and Canal Company Oversea was officially established. In early 2010, this company officially launched the K+ Satellite Digital TV brand.

In 2011, An Viên Television began broadcasting terrestrial digital television according to the DVB-T2 standard. In the same year, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung signed and approved the Television Digitization Project in order to convert analog TV broadcast signals into DVB-T2 terrestrial digital television, with the goal that by 2020 all households in Vietnam would be able to watch digital television.

In 2013, VTV piloted digital television in a number of major cities according to DVB-T2 standards and officially broadcast since 2014. The Government's Project on Digitalization of Television has been implemented since 2015, completely stopping analog television broadcasts in Da Nang City and the North of Quang Nam Province. Other localities also began to phase out analog television in the following years. At 0:00 on December 28, 2020, the last 15 localities in the terrestrial TV digitization roadmap stopped broadcasting analog television.

Since September 2016, SCTV has conducted a test of ultra-high definition television 4K on the existing cable television system, for the first time in Vietnam. 1 year later, VTC also started broadcasting programs produced according to 4K standards for free on the DVB-T2 system in some provinces and cities.

Radio
The first Vietnamese-language radio transmission was made on September 2, 1945, when Ho Chi Minh read out the Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

Prior to 1945, Vietnamese people were banned from owning radio receivers, and broadcasting was under control of the French colonial government, which established the first radio station in Vietnam, Radio Saigon, in the late 1920s.

Vietnam's national radio station, now called the Voice of Vietnam, started broadcasting from Hanoi just a week after the declaration of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. During the Vietnam War, Radio Hanoi operated as a propaganda tool of the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam.

South Vietnam set up its own network in Saigon in 1955.

Following Reunification, all of the radio stations were combined into the Voice of Vietnam, which became the national radio station in 1978.

Today, VOV strives to offer diverse, high-quality programming and in every aspect of mass media. It broadcasts on many channels, repeated on Medium wave (MW) AM, FM and shortwave (SW) AM bands throughout Vietnam and the rest of the world: As of 2004, it was estimated that VOV's programs reached more than 90% of all households in Vietnam.
 * VOV1 (MW, SW and FM) - news, current affairs and music
 * VOV2 (MW, SW and FM) - cultural and social programs
 * VOV3 (MW, SW and FM) - music & entertainment
 * VOV4 (MW and SW) - ethnic minority language programming
 * VOV5 (MW, SW and FM) - world service broadcasts in 11 foreign languages
 * VOV6 (MW, SW and FM) - artistic-oriented programs, currently a block on VOV2
 * VOV Transportation (FM) - updating information during rush hours/ general, talks and music during primetime and off hours
 * VOV English 24/7 (FM) - English-language program
 * VOV Health (FM) - health and safety consumering/all- music from morning to late midday and from late afternoon to late night
 * VOV News - a website containing news and other aspects
 * VOVTV (Television Channel)- nationally broadcast which currently aimed at cultural and tourism programs
 * VOV newspaper 'the Voice of Vietnam'- a printed version with more in-depth contents of VOVnews website

In addition, most cities and provinces has their own radio stations.
 * Vietnam Radio Stations Online Full List Updated 2013

Newspapers and periodicals
Colonial period (1915-1940)

During the early 20th century, a combination of French policies and technological breakthroughs led to the rapid emergence of modern print culture in Vietnam’s urban centres. Many new periodicals, journals, and newspapers were created during this time. The Vietnamese published 13,381 different books and tracts between 1922-1940, and from 1918-1939 there were at least 163 Vietnamese-language periodicals in Saigon. Influential newspapers, periodicals, and journals in this time period included Nam Phong (Southern Wind), Phong Hoa and Ngay Nay. These publications contributed to a burgeoning public sphere and shaped political and intellectual currents in Vietnam's urban centers. Major debates centred around tradition vs. modernity, anti-colonialism, and nationalist consciousness.

The first Vietnamese-language newspaper was the French-sponsored Gia Định Bao, established in Saigon in 1869. In the years that followed, both the nationalistic and the colonial sides relied on newspapers as a propaganda tool. During the final period of French colonialism many reporters were arrested and imprisoned and several newspaper offices closed by the authorities.

Indochina War

For Ho Chi Minh's revolutionary side, Vietnamese journalists covered the First Indochina War. After the war, presses were set up in Hanoi and the basis for the country's newspaper industry as it exists today was formed, with the main Communist Party organ, Nhan Dan (The People), established in 1951.

Since 1975

As Vietnam moves toward a free-market economy with its economic reforms, the government has relied on the print media to keep the public informed about its policies. The measure has had the effect of almost doubling the numbers of newspapers and magazines since 1996.

Current large Vietnamese-language newspapers include Tuoi Tre (Youth, published in Ho Chi Minh City, described as a "reformist" newspaper), Thanh Nien (Youth), Người Lao Động (Labour or The Worker), Tien Phong (Vanguard), Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Saigon), and Hà nội mới (New Hanoi). Prominent French language newspapers included Saigon Eco, the only that currently is published is Le Courrier du Vietnam. There are other, smaller provincial newspapers such as the Ba Ria Vung Tau Daily Newspaper.

The largest online newspapers are Zing.vn, VnExpress, VietNamNet, Tuổi Trẻ, Thanh Niên, Dân Trí, VTC News, and VietnamPlus. The largest online news aggregator in Vietnam is Báo Mới.

Analog television
Analog television has appeared in Vietnam since the 1960s. In Vietnam, analog television broadcasts on the VHF band (from channel R6 to channel R12), and on the UHF band (from channel E21 to channel E62). Only a few places use frequencies below 6 VHF (such as channel R3 VHF in Tam Dao, Can Tho and the Russian Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City). Around the early 1990s, a number of television stations in the South began broadcasting on the UHF band, typically Radio and Television Station Song Be (the forerunner of Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc Radio and Television Station) pioneered the use of the first UHF band with frequencies E25 and E44 UHF. Most analog terrestrial televisions in Vietnam use the D/K system (especially the HTV7 channel in Vinh Phuc used the M system in the period 2003–2005).

Terrestrial analog television is no longer broadcast in Vietnam after the completion of Digitalization of Terrestrial TV on December 28, 2020.

DVB-T
In Vietnam, Vietnam Television Technology Development and Investment Company (VTC) started broadcasting DVB-T terrestrial digital television in 2001. This is the first unit of Vietnam to broadcast television. digital terrestrial television, creating a premise for the Government's Project on Digitalization of terrestrial television transmission and broadcasting until 2020.

In February 2002, Binh Duong Radio and Television Station (BTV) began broadcasting DVB-T digital television in the South, on channels 50 and 53 UHF.

In early September 2003, HTV tested DVB-T on channel 30 UHF, broadcasting HTV7, HTV9 and some other channels. Not long after that, on October 1, 2003, this channel officially aired and channels HTV1, HTV2, HTV3, HTV4 were born at the same time. In December 2003, on the eve of the opening of the 2003 Southeast Asian Games, the Ho Chi Minh City Television Station (HTV) began broadcasting DVB-T terrestrial digital television on the channel. 39, then channel 25, and stopped broadcasting on December 31, 2011.

In 2005, VTC was licensed by the State to broadcast DVB-T digital television nationwide.

In 2008, BTV's channel 50 UHF went down, and the station continued to broadcast channel 53 UHF.

On December 31, 2012, after 10 years of broadcasting, Binh Duong Radio and Television Station stopped broadcasting DVB-T digital television.

According to the Government's TV Digitization project, by the end of 2020, Vietnam would have completed television digitization and switch to terrestrial digital television broadcasting according to DVB-T2 standard. Currently, all digital terrestrial television transmission units have switched to broadcasting according to the DVB-T2 standard.

DVB-T2
In Vietnam, An Vien Television(AVG) started providing terrestrial digital television services with DVB-T2 broadcasting standard in 2011. This is the first transmission unit of the country broadcasting. terrestrial digital television according to the DVB-T2 standard.

In 2013, Vietnam Television experimented with broadcasting digital terrestrial television DVB-T2 in Hanoi, and officially broadcast in 2014. The current DVB-T2 television technology is being used to broadcast television on the UHF band nationwide, with the participation of transmission units: VTV, SDTV, VTC, AVG and DTV, on frequencies from 21 to 48 UHF.

DVB-T2 frequency in local
From 2017, to make it easier for people to receive DVB-T2 waves, transmission units often change the channel frequency of stations to the correct channel frequency as prescribed by the Frequency Department and of the main station, called the network. single frequency (SFN). There is also a multi-frequency network (MFN). In addition, VTV has applied Dolby Digital Plus technology to channels broadcast on DVB-T2 since 2016.

T-DMB
In 2009, VTV tested Mobile TV in Hanoi, completing the procedure for licensing T-DMB mobile digital television broadcast nationwide. By 2018, Southern Digital Television Company (SDTV) also started testing mobile digital television in the South.

Satellite TV
The concept of satellite television first appeared in Vietnam during the early 90s of the last century, when some agencies and units of Ho Chi Minh City started using satellite television. Very new types of television antennas appeared for the first time on city rooftops, called TVRO (satellite television technology).

In the early 2000s, people in areas with low waves, unable to watch analog television, used satellite television to monitor Vietnamese TV channels. However, the State cannot control the content of satellite channels,  and this leads to people watching programs with 'inappropriate' content. To solve this problem, on October 15, 2004, Vietnam Cable Television Technical Center (VCTV) started providing Digital Satellite Television (DTH) service, covering the entire territory of Vietnam. However, due to the high cost of renting Malaysia's Measat 2 satellite, while lacking a satellite transponder, the number of channels on DTH is not much.

After the satellite Vinasat-1 was successfully launched in 2008, HTV was the first unit to sign a contract to lease channels and broadcast broadcasts of Vietnam's channels. and many other local TV channels. Viewers can easily receive and watch many TV channels for free at the same time with higher quality instead of using analog terrestrial television with a limited number of channels and poor quality. At the end of 2008, VTC Multimedia Corporation launched the satellite high-definition (HD) digital television service, broadcast on Vinasat satellite. 1, using the DVB-S2 standard, with many high-definition (HD) programs.

From May 2009, VCTV made the conversion from Measat 2 satellite to Vinasat 1 satellite, and completed the conversion on July 1, 2009.

On June 12, 2009, Vietnam Cable Television Technical Center (VCTV), together with Canal+ Group announced the establishment of a joint venture corporation Vietnam Satellite Digital Television Company Limited (VSTV). On January 12, 2010, VSTV announced a new brand name for its satellite digital television service, K+.

In 2011, Global Audiovisual Joint Stock Company (AVG) provided An Vien Television service to all provinces and cities nationwide, through the satellite digital television service DVB-S2, broadcast waves on the NSS6 satellite. By 2015, AVG switched broadcasting to Vinasat 2 satellite.

On December 5, 2014, Vietnam Cable Television Corporation (VTVcab; formerly VCTV) officially withdrew from VSTV joint venture, transferring the investor rights to Vietnam Television (VTV). The capital ratio in the VSTV joint venture remains unchanged, of which VTV continues to hold 51% and Canal+ is 49%.

Cable television
Cable television began to appear in Vietnam in 1992, when Saigontourist Cable Television Company Limited (SCTV) was born. This is the first cable television company in Vietnam, a joint venture between Vietnam Television (VTV) and Saigon Tourism Corporation (Saigontourist) under the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City.

On September 20, 1995, Vietnam Television (VTV) established the MMDS Cable Technical Service Center. The center was established on the basis of being separated from the Program Production Technical Center, with the main function and task of developing the multi-channel microwave television system MMDS, becoming a multi-channel pay TV system. second in Vietnam. In 2000, the center was renamed to Vietnam Cable Television Company (VCTV). On February 17, 2003, Vietnam Cable Television Technical Service Center was established, the company served as the basis of VCTV. On 21 November, 2003, it changed its name to Vietnam Cable Television Technical Center, opened more internet access services along with other value-added services. On May 7, 2013, Vietnam Cable Television changed its brand name to Vietnam Cable Television Corporation.

Internet protocol television
On December 11, 2007, FPT Telecom Joint Stock Company (FPT Telecom) of FPT Corporation launched the service IPTV first in Vietnam with the name "iTV" (later FPT TV).

In the present, in Vietnam, there are 3 largest IPTV service units in Vietnam. These are MyTV (VNPT), Viettel TV (formerly NetTV then Next TV) and FPT Play (formerly FPT TV).

OTT
In 2013, in the face of the changing trend of technology, especially in the field of OTT television (streaming content over the Internet), stations had a big experiment with OTT television service. VCTV (now it's VTVCab) is the first unit to officially provide OTT television services under the VTV Plus brand since January 2013, through the cooperation between VCTV and Joint Stock Company. Network Communications and Services (Medianet Corporation). This application allows viewing multi-channel live TV, separate with playback feature and especially a completely new experience with interactive TV.

Along with that, Internet companies also jumped into this field, pioneering FPT Telecom with an online TV viewing application for handheld devices called FPT Play. The birth of FPT Play marked the opening of the OTT television service - Internet television in Vietnam.

On November 1, 2014, the Prime Minister signed Decision No. 1984 approving the project to create conditions for overseas Vietnamese to listen to and watch radio and television channels through various methods: on TVs, computers, phones, tablets and other mobile devices, thereby creating an opportunity for OTT television to take a bigger step in the next phase.

2016 has witnessed a strong explosion of OTT television service in Vietnam. While pay TV services in general are showing signs of decline, OTT television has a rapid growth rate. According to the data of the Ministry of Information & Communications, at the end of 2017 OTT television had only 720,000 subscribers, but by the end of 2019 it had jumped to the number of subscribers. number of 2.5 million subscribers.

OTT television in Vietnam currently has 4 participating groups:


 * 1) Television content production units switching to OTT, taking the Internet as a transmission platform,
 * 2) Units that take content from broadcasters or produce their own content for television,
 * 3) Pure content production units have strengths in entertainment programs and want to build their own applications.
 * 4) Platform service providers.

National essential TV channels
The following table is a list of television program channels that serve Vietnam's essential political and propaganda tasks, designated by the Ministry of Information and Communications. These TV channels are selected based on a number of criteria, including "principle, purpose is current affairs - general politics or specialized content, ensuring to serve information requests, propagandizing political, security and defense tasks of the country". Broadcasting and paying carriers are required to broadcast these channels to viewers.

High-definition television
Currently in Vietnam, all TV stations broadcast in HD in 16:9 image format. Some TV channels have broadcast HD for at least one floor or more.