# 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, the Voice of Vietnam broadcast the first experimental television program. Beginning from the late 1970s, color television was introduced and broadcast experimentally. Today, television in Vietnam is available in many broadcasting formats, with many national and local channels, broadcast or pay-per-view with more than 200 channels available to viewers.Vietnam completed the digital television transition in 21 provinces starting on 30 June 2020 and throughout the whole country on 28 December, shutting down all analog signals in the country.
Television in Vietnam is considered a type of journalism, managed under the Press Law of 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 with business registrations that are appropriate to the field of association", allowing private units 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, witnessing a decline in revenues as well as a shift in audiences to services such as video on demand or social networks on the Internet.

## History
### 1965-1975: The beginning of television in Vietnam
#### 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, and the audience watched through two screens located in the exhibition center from 19:30 to 20:30 every day. The weekly newspaper Điện ảnh (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 that they can keep up with the television broadcast programs."
In 1965, Saigon Television Station (THVN), the first television station of Vietnam, was officially established. On 22 January 1966, the first television program was broadcast, and then officially aired in the South on 7 February. The station broadcast black-and-white television with the FCC television technical standards alongside a 4.5 MHz voice modulation.
In the early days, due to the lack of television towers, broadcasting was done with stratovision (the use of a helicopter to broadcast). All programs, including news, would be recorded on magnetic tapes, and then transferred onto the four-engine Super Constellation aircraft. Every evening, this aircraft carrying equipment would leave the Tan Son Nhat Airport to a stable altitude of 3,150 metres at a location about 32 km southeast of Saigon, and from there flew on an unchanged, nightly repeating route at a steady speed of 271 km/h. Television signals from helicopters could then be received in places as far away from Saigon as Đà Nẵng, Cà Mau or Phnom Penh, but only Saigon and the neighbouring provinces would have the clearest picture and sound quality.
Alongside the establishment of Vietnam Television, the radio-television system of the United States Army, occupied in South Vietnam at that time, was also established. This station was originally called AFRTS (American Forces Radio and Television Service). In 1967, it changed the name to AFVN (American Forces Vietnam Network). Broadcasting in English on the 11th frequency band, it was meant to serve American soldiers working in the South.
After that, AFVN built a television tower at 9 Hồng Thập Tự Street (now Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai Street), which was also the station's headquarters. On 25 October 1966, Vietnam's first television tower was completed and put into use, replacing the previous broadcast by helicopter. The tower is 128 metres tall and is 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 Nhơn, Nha Trang and Cần Thơ.
In 1972, Đắc Lộ Television was established. This was a private television company belonging to Catholic Church of the Republic of Vietnam and operated by Jesuits. It did 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 United States and the Saigon Government in the South is increasing day after day, television has not appeared in the North at all. According to journalist Hoàng Tùng [vi], former Editor-in-Chief of the Nhân Dân (The People) newspaper, Head of the Central Propaganda Department, in the 1960s, every time he went on a business trip abroad, he used to watch TV in other countries, President Ho Chi Minh often reminded cadres to prepare all conditions to build the television industry. Implementing that idea, the Vietnam Television Film Studio was established in January 1968, under the General Department of Information, with the task of producing 16-millimetre television filmsfor 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 Thế Hùng: "When will you let our people be able to watch television?", because it was not enough to just make a movie to send abroad, but rather a television broadcast for everyone to see. The government even planned to give the General Department of Information a plot of land near Chùa Bộc (Hanoi) to build a television station, but that was not possible at the time.
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. The Voice of Vietnam (VOV) had sent a number of officials to Cuba and other Socialist countries to study about television broadcasting. Meanwhile, VOV initiated several television experiments with improved radio equipment, converting two radio transmitters into one video and one voice transmitter, and self-assembled two usabled super orthicon cameras from Moscow Television (formerly of the Soviet Union) and named them as "Heaven Horse" (Vietnamese: Ngựa Trời). This name is derived from the name of the homemade gun, used by the Liberation Army of South Vietnam in combats. The two cameras, with model numbers NT1 and NT2 respectively, could produce images despite some incomplete features.
On the evening of 7 September 1970, the first signals of VOV's television service has been come to transmission from Studio M at 58 Quán Sứ Street, Hanoi, the headquarters of VOV. By the year of 1971, VOV established its television department: "Television Editorial Board", the predecessor of Vietnam Television (VTV). In the night of Lunar New Year's Day (27 January) 1971, VOV broadcast its first experimental television program, serving the capital city of Hanoi. Since there is no storage device, all programs are broadcast live. By 1972, the broadcasting was interrupted due to multiple attacks from South Vietnam and the US, including Operation Linebacker II. VOV was forced to evacuate, and all television signals had been suspended until 1973, after the Paris Peace Accords was signed.

### 1975–1990: Post-war period and the beginning of color television

In the South, after the Paris Peace Accords was implemented, AFVN stations officially ceased to operate and 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 its operations on the night of 29 April 1975, the day before the Fall of Saigon. After Saigon was captured, Voice of Vietnam and the Liberation Station A, together with Liberation Station B in the Southeast region took over the entire radio and television system left by the old regime. Saigon Television Station was renamed Liberation Television Station and began airing again on the evening of 1 May 1975. At the same time, Đắc Lộ Television became the second campus of the Liberation Television Station and resumed operation on 3 October 1975. Until 2 July 1976, Saigon was officially renamed as Ho Chi Minh City, Liberation Television Station was renamed to Ho Chi Minh City Television (HTV).
In the North, in 1976, the Television Center was built in Giảng Võ (Hanoi), and from here television began to be broadcast daily along with the construction of a television tower at Pole 1200 in Tam Đảo. In 1977, the Television Editorial Board separated from the Voice of Vietnam, becoming the new Central Television Station (Vietnamese: Đài Truyền hình Trung ương, THTW) and moved its headquarters to the new Center.
In 1976, HTV experimented with color broadcasting. Two years later, in September 1978, THTW also began a limited-time trial of SECAM-system color television for testing purposes, serving a limited number of its existing color television sets. audience at that time. To improve the team's level, THTW also sent a delegation of 8 engineers to practice color television at the Television of the German Democratic Republic for 1+1⁄2 years. In addition, the station also built the Tam Đảo Transmission Station to cover the whole North Vietnam region and support the construction of local television stations.
Although Vietnam used the French SECAM standard as its broadcasting standard, which was used in most socialist states, the broadcasting system in the North and the South was completely different: the North was using the SECAM/CCIR D system. At the same time, the South assumed control of the American system FCC/CCIR M. Therefore, to manage and unify the national broadcasting system, on 12 May 1977, the State established the Radio and Television Committee, an upgrade from Voice of Vietnam. In the organizational structure of the committee, there is the Institute for Research and Development of Radio and Television Broadcasting (or the Institute of Television) to study and solve the shortcomings in the unified mass media system, 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 and television system nationwide.
As a regional station in the South of Vietnam under the Vietnam Radio and Television Commission, 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 THTW and HTV, a system of local television stations was gradually formed. In 1976, the Vinh Television Station was established, followed by the Đà Nẵng Television Station, established on the basis of Hải Vân broadcasting station (under Huế Television Station). In 1978, Thanh Hóa Television was officially broadcast, along with that, the Vinh Television was transferred to the local People's Committee, becoming Nghệ Tĩnh Television (now Nghệ An Radio and Television Station - NTV). In early 1979, a television program called Hanoi Television began to be broadcast on the national television, initially as a program to serve the capital's citizen, broadcast monthly, then gradually moved to daily broadcasting. This is the forerunner of today's Hanoi Radio Television. In 1983, Haiphong Television and Quảng Ninh Television were officially established. In 1985, Đồng Tháp Television became the second television station in the Southwest region after Cần Thơ Radio and Television Station, but in 1991 it had to stop broadcasting because of financial problems, and has only rebroadcast back since 1997; Lâm Đồng 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, THTW and HTV would exchange video tapes via airway. In addition, THTW transmitted video tapes to Haiphong Television Station and neighboring provinces via road, and HTV transmitted video tapes to television stations in the South. This resulted in national television programs being broadcast several days delayed. Although most of the programs at that time were produced by THTW or HTV, local stations also tried to interject a few programs for local people, supplementing national programs, mainly the Local News.
In the first half of the 1980s, color broadcasting by television stations began to take place. THTW officially switched to full-time color broadcasting in early August 1986, instead of just special programs years before. Meanwhile, HTV started broadcasting the HTV7 channel to facilitate the change of broadcasting systems. THTW was renamed to Vietnam Television (VTV) on 30 April. On the night of 23 August, due to the lack of money to renovate the outdated electrical system, a destructive major fire broke out, burning down the entire television 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.
Supported by the Soviet Government, in July 1980, the Lotus 1 Terrestrial Satellite Station (20 km from Phủ Lý town) along with a microwave line with a relay station in Phú Xuyên rural district (Hà Tây) has been completed to transmit signals to Hanoi Post Office in Hoàn Kiếm District and VTV located in Giang Vo. For the first time ever, the Television Center in Giảng Võ has directly recorded the color image of the daily program in Moscow. 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 ceremony of the 1980 Summer Olympics. Since then, international news from the Soviet Central Television has reached daily into Vietnam, telecommunications and some images of Vietnam have finally reached the world.
Five years later, in 1985, the Soviet Union continued gifting Vietnam the Lotus 2 Satellite Station, located in Mạc Đĩnh Chi Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. With this station, the satellite communication between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City was established, and television stations were fully capable of exchanging daily programs almost instantly, which created conditions for local television stations to be able to broadcast national television programs during the day. A few years later, major organizational changes were made: the Radio and Television Committee was dissolved; both VOV and VTV were transferred to the Ministry of Culture, Information and Tourism for management; all broadcasting and transmission facilities of radio and television were transferred to the General Department of Posts and Telecommunications, under the management of the newly established Radio and Television Technical Department.
During this period, Vietnam was a member of OIRT (International Radio and Television Organization) - the broadcasting organization of socialist countries, led by the Soviet Union. Vietnamese television was required to use the SECAM color standard, the main system used in OIRT member countries, while most of the recorders and signal processing equipment at centers were using the PAL or multi-system, with the exception of some specialized Soviet cameras that used the SECAM system. At the time, the world's color television technology had 3 standards: NTSC, PAL, SECAM, of which the most prominent is the PAL system. Vietnamese television wanted to convert to the PAL system, but was not permitted to solve. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the OIRT also ceased to exist, television stations officially decided to switch to PAL color television broadcasting.

### 1990–2007: Modernization, television expansion and the experimental transmit of digital television

On 30 January 1991, the Government of Vietnam issued Decision No. 26/CP assigning the General Department of Post and Telecommunications to lease Intesputnik satellite to transmit radio and television signals. Beginning Lunar New Year 1991, the official transmission began by the satellite coverage of the national television program for local stations to record and broadcast. Thanks to that, provincial and municipal local television stations have had a growth in quantity. In 1994, Vietnamese television first explored the UHF band through the event of Sông Bé Radio and Television Station (the predecessor of two television stations Bình Dương and Bình Phước) that started its broadcast on channel 25 UHF on 2 September 1994, followed by 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.
Channels VTV2 and VTV3 were established and broadcast in the absence of frequency bands, the three VTV channels had to share a single channel frequency for a long time.VTV3 has been broadcasting on a separate satellite channel frequency starting from 31 March 1998, followed by VTV2 on 30 April 2001. Many local stations during this period mainly focused on relaying VTV2, because its coverage at that time was the weakest 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 Đà Nẵng Television Station (later VTV Đà Nẵng, until 1997, it merged with Đà Nẵng People's Radio and the task of implementing the broadcasting program of Đà Nẵng People's Radio, becoming DRT Đà Nẵng, now Đà Nẵng Radio Television Station), Quảng Nam, Hà Giang, Nam Định, Nình Bình, Trà Vinh, Bình Dương.... In Central Vietnam, Phú Yên Television Station was established to address the television-signal dead for the people; Ninh Thuận Radio Television Station was also separated from Thuận Hải Radio and Television Station (now Bình Thuận Radio and Television Station).
Regarding television equipment, at the time, local TV stations often implied Panasonic M video cameras (M7/M9/M1000/M3000) using regular VHS tapes, and M9000 (using S-VHS tapes) and Sony video cameras (Betacam/DVC) to film and broadcast programs. Regarding storage tapes, VTV and HTV used Ampex 2 Inch tapes to store broadcasts, and the remaining stations used Betacam/VHS tapes to broadcast. In 1999, HTV was the first station to perform automatic transfer of broadcast tapes. Regarding graphics editing equipment for rendering graphics through nonlinear junction detectors (NLJD), some major stations and local stations at that time already had NLJDs, such as VTV and HTV (Amiga),... while smaller stations either made simpler graphics, or asked other stations or 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 or support from major stations.
In the late 1990s, three digital television broadcasting standards appeared in the world: ATSC from the United States (1995), DVB-T from Europe (1997) and DiBEG from Japan. Vietnam Television faced the challenge of choosing between these three standards. After a series of trials, the Science Council of Vietnam Television unanimously agreed to recommend the leadership of the station to adopt a terrestrial digital television standard for Vietnam. At noon on 26 March 2001, Mr. Hồ Anh Dũng, then General Director of Vietnam Television, officially signed the decision to adopt the digital terrestrial television standard DVB-T.
From early January 2002, Bình Dương Radio and Television Station (BTV) began broadcasting its terrestrial digital television system (DVB-T, MPEG-2 compression standard) on two channels, 50 and 53 UHF with 16 television channels. Soon after, VTC launched its service with 16 channels (channels 55 and 56 UHF), followed by HTV's service (Channel 39 UHF with 8 channels) that was only experimental.
In 2003, VTV began broadcasting its two channels VTV1 and VTV3 under the DVB-T standard. During the same period, BTV officially launched 24/7 broadcasting of its channel BTV3 on digital at channel 50 UHF, creating the premise for television stations to adopt 24/7 broadcasting in the future.
In 2004, VCTV inaugurated its direct-to-home (DTH) satellite digital television service and subsequently provided broadband Internet services through its DTH and Cable TV network the following year. That same year, VTC Digital Television was established and began to deploy digital television nationwide under the DVB-T standard.
Also in 2004, Teletext - a solution for transmitting text-based information via television channels - was introduced into Vietnam through Đồng Nai Radio and Television Station and Vietnamese Technology Joint Stock Company (Vitek). This technology enabled viewers to access various essential information, such as news updates and market prices, continuously displayed on the screen without relying on the station's broadcast schedule. Subsequently, in 2009, Thái Nguyên Radio and Television Station also conducted trials of this technology in partnership with Hanel Company. However, to date, Teletext has seen no further development or expansion in Vietnam.

### 2008–present: The rise of digital television and digital television transition

High-definition (HD) television first emerged in Vietnam in 2008, marking a significant advancement in broadcasting technology. HTVC became a pioneer in this transition by introducing HD broadcasts for channels such as HTV7, HTV9, and FBNC on its cable television system. After HTV, SCTV and VTC also adopted HD television alongside launching satellite broadcasting.
In June 2009, Vietnam Satellite Digital Television Company Limited (VSTV) was officially established as a joint venture between the Cable Television Technical Center of VTV and Canal+ Overseas. In early 2010, the company launched its satellite television service, K+.
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.
On 11 November 2011, An Viên Television (AVG) officially launched nationwide digital terrestrial television broadcasts using the DVB-T2 standard. On 27 December, Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng issued Decision No. 2451/QĐ-TTg, approving the project of digital television transition by 2020 (commonly known as the Television Digitalization Project). This initiative aimed to transition analog terrestrial broadcasting to digital DVB-T2, with the objective of ensuring that by 2020, all households in Vietnam would have access to digital television.
In 2013, VTV began trial broadcasts of digital television in several major cities using the DVB-T2 standard, before officially launching digital transmissions in 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.

## Mass media in Vietnam
### 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:
* 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
As of 2004, it was estimated that VOV's programs reached more than 90% of all households in Vietnam.
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.

## Television broadcast transmission methods
### 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.

### Digital television
#### 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.
Frequency table of channels on DVB-T2 system in Vietnam (currently) :
| Frequency channel | Broadcasting unit |
| 23 | VTV (Cam Mountain, An Giang) |
| 24 | VTV (Tam Dao, Tay Ninh) |
| 25 | VTV |
| 26 | VTV |
| 27 | VTV |
| 29 | VTC |
| 30 | VTC |
| 31 | VTC |
| 33 | SDTV (in the South) |
| 34 | SDTV (in the South) DTV (Doc Cun, Hoa Binh) |
| 35 | SDTV (in Con Dao) |
| 36 | SDTV (in Da Nang, Quang Nam, Da Lat, Khanh Hoa, Binh Dinh) |
| 42 | AVG |
| 43 | AVG |
| 44 | AVG |
| 45 | AVG |
| 46 | DTV (in the North) |
| 47 | DTV (in the North) |
| 48 | DTV (in the North) |

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

### TV channels
#### Essential television 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 operated directly/indirectly by the government in order to deliver news, information, and propaganda supporting the state's interests.
| Channel | Owner | Content | First broadcast | Year selected | Defunct |
| VTV1 | Vietnam Television | News - Politics - General | 1970 | 2012 | |
| VTC1 | VTC Digital Television | News - Politics - General | 2004 | 2012 | 2025 |
| ANTV | Ministry of Public Security | Security and order | 2011 | 2012 | |
| VNews | Vietnam News Agency | News | 2010 | 2012 | 2025 |
| National Assembly Television | National Assembly (Vietnam) | Information - News - Politics | 2015 | 2016 | 2025 |
| Nhan Dan TV | People's Newspaper | News - Politics - General | 2015 | 2016 | 2025 |
| QPVN | Ministry of National Defence, Viettel Media | Military - Defense | 2013 | 2016 | |

### 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.

## Most viewed channels

| Position | Channel | Share of total viewing (%) |
| 1 | VTV3 | 35.1 |
| 2 | VTV1 | 15.5 |
| 3 | HTV7 | 14.9 |
| 4 | HanoiTV | 12.1 |
| 5 | VTV6 | 9.5 |
| 6 | THVL | 6.0 |
| 7 | VTC1 | 5.4 |
| 8 | SCTV | 2.6 |
| 9 | ANTV | 2.0 |
| 10 | VNews | 1.8 |