Vietnam Television ( vi, Đài Truyền hình Việt Nam), or VTV, is the national television broadcaster of Vietnam. As the state broadcaster under the direction of the

government of Vietnam The Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (), also known as the Vietnamese Government or the Government of Vietnam (), is the executive branch and body of the State administration of Vietnam. The members of the Government are appoi ...

, VTV is tasked with "propagating the views of the Party, policies, laws of the government".

History

VTV was established with technical assistance and training from Cuba on 7 September 1970, in

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

, as a department of

Voice of Vietnam The Voice of Vietnam or VOV (also Radio the Voice of Vietnam, Vietnamese: ''Đài Tiếng nói Việt Nam'') is the Vietnamese national radio broadcaster. Directly controlled by the government of Vietnam, it is tasked with propagating the p ...

. During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and ...

it broadcast intermittently from a mountainous region. After reunification in 1975, the former US-run stations in the south became part of the national network, and broadcasting was extended to the entire country. Color television was experimented in 1977 and adopted the French

SECAM SECAM, also written SÉCAM (, ''Séquentiel de couleur à mémoire'', French for ''color sequential with memory''), is an analog color television system that was used in France, some parts of Europe and Africa, and Russia. It was one of th ...

standard and fully implemented in 1986. Vietnam Television became an official name on 30 April 1987. And by 1990, VTV viewers had two national TV channels to choose from as VTV2 was launched and that year switched to

PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...

.VTV Official Site - Overall

VTV's regional broadcasting centres are located in

Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

Huế Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admini ...

Da Nang Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...

Nha Trang Nha Trang ( or ; ) is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa Province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the north by Ninh Hoà town, on the south by Cam Ranh city and on the west by Diên Khánh District. The city has ...

(formerly in Phú Yên), and

Cần Thơ Cần Thơ, also written as Can Tho or Cantho (: , : ), is the fourth-largest city in Vietnam, and the largest city along the Mekong Delta region in Vietnam. It is noted for its floating markets, rice paper-making village, and picturesque rur ...

. Programming is relayed nationwide via a network of provincial and municipal television stations. There are transmitters in most outlying areas of the country. By 2003, more than 80% of all urban households owned a television set. The percentage was considerably less in rural areas, but even the most remote village cafe has a TV and

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

player. In addition, each major city and most of the 51

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

have their own television stations. January 1-7, 2020: Perform SD & HD channel sync testing for all channels. Between 19 March and 30 April 2020, as a safety precaution due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, Vietnam Television temporarily suspended the overnight timeslot on most channels, with the exception of VTV1, VTV4 and VTV7, and limited the broadcast time to 19 hours per day. The overnight timeslot returned to these channels as of 00:00, 1 May 2020. From May 10, 2020, Decree 34/2020/ND-CP officially takes effect. Accordingly, VTV merged and restructured the station's editing, production and broadcasting units and Vietnam Television Centers in the Central and Southern regions. From July 30 to September 2, 2020, during the time of social distancing to prevent the COVID-19 epidemic in central provinces and cities, VTV8 continues to shorten the broadcast time to 19 hours daily. From September 3, 2020, VTV8 has broadcast 24 hours daily again. December 31, 2020: The station stopped broadcasting terrestrial analogue television in 15 provinces of group IV of the Terrestrial Television Digitization Scheme, completing the national television digitization. On September 8, 2022, Decree No. 60/2022/ND-CP on the organization, tasks and powers of Vietnam Television was issued. Accordingly, the Youth Department is no longer part of the department system of Vietnam Television Station from October 1, 2022. At the same time, the Vietnam Television Center in the Southern region was split and re-established. Vietnam Television Center in Ho Chi Minh City as well as Vietnam Television Center in the Southwest region (on the basis of the Southwest Regional Office of Vietnam Television Center in the Southern region). The Vietnam Television Center in the Southwest region is responsible for producing programs for the VTV Can Tho television channel and other VTV channels. October 10, 2022: VTV6 channel officially stopped broadcasting, piloting VTV Cần Thơ channel. October 13, 2022: Officially broadcast the National Television Channel of the Southwest region - VTV Cần Thơ. November 1, 2022: officially synchronized SD & HD channel streams for all channels (except for channels VTV5 Tây Nam Bộ, VTV8 and VTV Cần Thơ which have synchronized streams before) On November 21, 2022, VTV Cần Thơ channel increases the broadcast time 24/7 daily, during the broadcast of programs related to the matches of the FIFA World Cup 2022 taking place in Qatar.

Channels

VTV now has the following channels:VTV Official site - Channel list
*

VTV1 VTV1 is a state-owned Vietnamese-language news channel and also the first television channel of Vietnam Television Station, and the third channel of VTV to broadcast HD, broadcast continuously with a duration of 24 hours a day from June 15, ...

: News and current affairs channel; 24/7. The channel also broadcasts live important national events and parliament meetings. Music and movies are the only fields that largely fall outside its format. VTV1 was initially broadcast on 7 September 1970. An HD version of VTV1 was launched on 31 March 2014. It is considered one of seven

must-carry In cable television, governments apply a must-carry regulation stating that locally licensed television stations must be carried on a cable provider's system. North America Canada Under current CRTC regulations, the lowest tier of service on ...

national channels, and it must be carried free-to-air by all satellite and cable providers in Vietnam. *

VTV2 VTV2 is a Vietnamese television channel owned and operated by state-run VTV Network. Launched on 1 January 1990, VTV2 is dedicated to the broadcast of education and cultural programs. Since 1 May 2020, the channel has broadcast for 24/7. In ...

: Science and education channel; broadcast 24/7. The channel also broadcasts Chinese, Thai, and South Korean TV series. VTV2 started transmission on 1 January 1990. An HD version of VTV2 was launched on 19 May 2015. *

VTV3 VTV3 is a Vietnamese television channel operated and owned by government-owned Vietnam Television. Launched on 31 March 1996 as the country's first sports and entertainment integrated channel, its programs contained sporting events and entertain ...

: Sports and entertainment channel, broadcast 24/7. VTV3 officially launched on 31 March 1996. An HD version of VTV3 was launched on 31 March 2013. This is the first channel in VTV to broadcast in high-definition. *

VTV4 VTV4 is a Vietnamese state-owned pay television network, serving as the international broadcaster of Vietnam Television. Launched on 7 January 1998, it offers a best-of package of programming from the three domestic channels ( VTV1, VTV2 and VT ...

: An international channel officially launched in 1998, offering a best-of package of programming from VTV's domestic channels to Vietnamese worldwide, also available in Taiwan

CHT MOD CHT MOD (Multimedia On Demand of Chunghwa Telecom, zh, 中華電信MOD) is a Taiwan-based consumer IPTV service, operated by Chunghwa Telecom. Up to now, The current number of customers reached 1.48 million. History In January 2003, Chunghwa Tel ...

Channel 215. An HD version of VTV4 was launched on 19 June 2015. * VTV5: Ethnic language channel, broadcast 24/7. VTV5 launched on 10 February 2002. An HD version of VTV5 was launched on 1 July 2015. * VTV Cần Thơ: Specialized channel for viewers in the Southwest region of Vietnam, broadcast from 5:30 to 23:30. soft-launched on 10 October 2022 and began broadcasting officially from 13 October 2022. * VTV7: Education channel, broadcast from 06:00 to 24:00. VTV7 and VTV7 HD both soft-launched from 20 November 2015 and began broadcasting officially on 1 January 2016. *

VTV8 Vietnam Television ( vi, Đài Truyền hình Việt Nam), or VTV, is the national television broadcaster of Vietnam. As the state broadcaster under the direction of the government of Vietnam, VTV is tasked with "propagating the views of the ...

: Specialized channel for viewers in the Central and Central Highlands region of Vietnam, broadcast 24/7. VTV8 and VTV8 HD was launched on 1 January 2016. * VTV9: Specialized channel for viewers in the Southern region of Vietnam, launched on 8 October 2007. HD simulcast was launched on 28 August 2015.

Defunct regional channels

* VTV6: Youth channel that targets an audience between 18 and 34 years old and sporting events, broadcast 24/7. VTV6 started broadcasting on 29 April 2007. An HD version of VTV6 was launched on 7 September 2013. From October 10, 2022, the channel is replaced by VTV Cần Thơ channel. * VTV Huế * VTV Đà Nẵng * VTV Phú Yên * VTV Cần Thơ 1 * VTV Cần Thơ 2 Since 2003, all the above channels are also available via satellite, digital terrestrial, and digital cable networks across Vietnam. The VTV itself offers 15 pay TV channels through

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna commo ...

and

digital cable Digital cable is the distribution of cable television using digital data and video compression. The technology was first developed by General Instrument. By 2000, most cable companies offered digital features, eventually replacing their previou ...

which are called K+ and VTVCab respectively, Changes to VTV regional channels were made on 1 January 2016. VTV Huế, VTV Đà Nẵng, and VTV Phú Yên ceased programming and became VTV8, a specific channel for Central and Highland Regions of Vietnam. Both the ''old'' VTV9 (which was only for Ho Chi Minh City and Southeast Vietnam regions) and VTV Cần Thơ 1 (which was only for Cần Thơ City and Hậu Giang Province) merged to form the ''new'' VTV9 for both southeast and southwest of Vietnam, while VTV Cần Thơ 2 was renamed VTV5 Tây Nam Bộ, a bilingual Khmer-Vietnamese channel and the first regional variation of VTV5. On 17 October 2016, VTV5 Tây Nguyên, a channel for ethnic minorities in Central Highlands of Vietnam and another regional variation of VTV5, was also launched.

List of VTV channels

Programming

VTV has its own film production company, the Vietnam Television Film Centre (formerly Vietnam Television Film Company), or VFC, which produces made-for-television movies and

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. " Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries forma ...

. Shows may also include foreign serial melodramas dubbed in Vietnamese, shown on VTV1 or VTV3. Aside from news and current affairs programming, VTV1 devotes itself to orchestral concerts, ballets, traditional theatre, ethnic minority culture shows and films. On Vietnamese New Year's Eve, VTV broadcasts a block of specialised programmes, including ''Chiều cuối năm'' ("Last Afternoon of the Year"), a special edition of the 7pm news bulletin, satirical theatrical comedy '' Gặp nhau cuối năm'' ("Year-end meet"), dedicated music shows, and a live broadcast of New Year's Eve celebrations across the country.

VTV worldwide bureaux

As of 2020, VTV has 15 bureaux with stationed staff and correspondents at: *

Vientiane Vientiane ( , ; lo, ວຽງຈັນ, ''Viangchan'', ) is the capital and largest city of Laos. Vientiane is divided administratively into 9 cities with a total area of only approx. 3,920 square kilometres and is located on the banks of ...

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Cambodia, most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become ...

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borderin ...

, ASEAN region *

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 2 ...

, China * Tokyo,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Malays ...

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

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 Guinea. In ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France *

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its ea ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium, Europe region *

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Nor ...

, UK & Ireland area region *

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dha ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europea ...

region *

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

United States 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 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Criticism and controversies

Political

VTV4 has been criticized by

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

ese refugees and Vietnamese emigrants. This is because they do not like VTV supporting the Communist state. This controversy was initiated in 2004, when the Australian public broadcaster SBS began to air news bulletin from VTV4 as a part of '' WorldWatch'', a program which transmitting news program from public broadcasters around the world. VTV4's bulletin was quickly removed after the backlash. On the 2019 Lunar New Year edition of the cultural show ''Vietnamese Beauties'' (), VTV used the figure of

Trần Lệ Xuân Trần Lệ Xuân (22 August 1924 – 24 April 2011), more popularly known in English as Madame Nhu, was the ''de facto'' First Lady of South Vietnam from 1955 to 1963. She was the wife of Ngô Đình Nhu, who was the brother and chief advisor ...

, the former South Vietnamese First Lady to illustrate Vietnamese

áo dài The (English pronunciation: ; (''North''), (''South'')) is a Vietnamese national garment worn by both sexes but most commonly by women. Besides suits and dresses nowadays, men and women can also wear áo dài on formal occasions. It is a ...

styles through the times. Two days later, on the variety show called ''12 Zodiacs'' (), VTV unintentionally displayed a frame showing a member of ''P336'' band wearing a yellow jacket which resembled the South Vietnamese flag.

Copyright infringement

On 28 February 2016, VTV admitted that they had used copyrighted content without permission in some of its programs. Thus, VTV's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most vis ...

channel was terminated. The case was exposed after Bui Minh Tuan, reported that VTV had repeatedly used his drone videos. He claimed that between 2015 and 2016 he had sent many complaints to VTV, the Department of Copyright and the Vietnam Ministry of Information and Communications to report around 20 copyright infringements by VTV, to no avail. Tuan decided to report the case to

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. I ...

.In 2008, VTV lost its rights to broadcast the

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss I ...

competition due to copyright issues. In 2016, it lost the broadcasting rights to the 2015-16 UEFA Champions League season.

Alternative Broadcasts

Sites such as https://vtvgo.vn/ show online live broadcasts of VTV channels. The ''VTV Go'' app can be used for

Smart TV A smart TV, also known as a connected TV (CTV), is a traditional television set with integrated Internet and interactive Web 2.0 features, which allows users to stream music and videos, browse the internet, and view photos. Smart TVs are a techno ...

devices, or the app can be downloaded via app-stores for smart-phones.

References

External links

*
Official English Site
* List of television programmes broadcast by Vietnam Television (VTV) {{Authority control Government of Vietnam State media Publicly funded broadcasters