Head of VTV online department in 2021 then Vice President of programming and director of VTV on behalf of VTV connection; now VTV host; arranged to publish Editing Handbook for VTV`s editors; to be published online to help all VTV editors. In this regard, I wrote an article titled: “Vietnam Television – The New Frontiers of TV Content Distribution”. I shared with you my thoughts and experiences with Vietnam Television. A thorough discussion followed. Since that time VTV has expanded rapidly, resulting in significant industry growth and success.
VTV now provides a diverse range of content across multiple platforms. Most importantly, VTV offers free-to-air (FTA) broadcasts to cable and satellite providers, in addition to a cable presence on the internet. The internet tv portal, Ngoc Son, is expanding rapidly also… Ngoc offers VTV online/offline access along with VTV packages for the Asia-Pacific region. Ngoc offers the most comprehensive and affordable international cable television service in Asia.
I would like to discuss the rapidly growing Asia-Pacific region, particularly Vietnam, in particular Hanoi. It is no secret that Vietnam is a rapidly emerging economic, political and cultural power. As a result Hanoi is aggressively pursuing its goal to become the Central Asian Financial Centre. To accomplish this goal, Vietnam needs all the tools it can get its hands on including cable television.
In early 2021, prior to our trip to Vietnam, one of my clients suggested we examine the possibility of investing in VTV and cable Internet service together. At that time VTV was offering cable service with terrestrial TV programming and a lot of foreign channels. The client wanted to take advantage of all that VTV had to offer – a mixture of both broadcast and non-broadcast entertainment and communication services including high speed Internet and telephony – at a much more affordable cost than that offered by his existing cable provider. We evaluated the proposal and advised the client that cablevision’s international expansion strategy of offering hundreds of different services in forty-eight countries did not provide the depth Vietnam needed.
Since that time Vietnam has focused its efforts on enhancing its digital technology infrastructure, specifically its high speed broadband Internet connection. The government also supports efforts to expand and improve satellite communications capabilities. Vietnam is in talks with Russia and Japan for possible satellite TV broadcast capabilities. The goal is to bring digital television services to Vietnamese audiences via mobile devices and the Internet.
In March of 2021 the Ministry of Education released plans to launch six new cable television channels. Currently only three of these channels are operational; they are Cien d’azesieu TV, Cuong Voi TV, and Cuong To TV. There is no clear indication when the government will have complete control over the cable market, but it appears the target date is 2021. Until then the government is supporting local cable operators and promoting the growth of the market. Recently the Ministry of Education released a draft policy for the cable television industry that would regulate and standardize prices and services.
One of the key recommendations from us in 2021 was for Vietnam to take advantage of the global marketplace to promote their programming and increase ratings. Our experience in Vietnam has been that this has not happened. Ratings are low and revenue growth has not been substantial. Many operators still do not have an affiliate system in place to capture the local audience.
We believe the solution lies in a combination of services and programming tailored to the local market. For example, Vietnamese users may be interested in a service that provides access to multiple foreign movies, while American viewers may be interested in a service that features news, sports events, and film marathons. The key is to develop a mutually beneficial relationship with the cable operators. As a former distributor of Vietnamese language channels I know that this is not easy. But I have seen this successfully done in other countries where I have lived and worked.