Vietnam Television
National television broadcaster of Vietnam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vietnam Television (Vietnamese: Đài Truyền hình Việt Nam), officially branded as VTV, is the national television broadcaster of Vietnam. Under the control of Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam,[1][2] it is tasked with "propagating the views of the Party, policies, laws of the government, improve people's knowledge and serve the spiritual life of the people".[3]
Logo of Vietnam Television since 2013 | |
| Type | Party media |
|---|---|
| Branding | VTV |
| Country | |
First air date | September 7, 1970 |
| Availability | Vietnam, Global |
| Motto | Đồng hành cùng khán giả |
| Headquarters | 43 Nguyen Chi Thanh Road, Giang Vo Ward, Hanoi |
| Nation | Vietnam |
| Owner | Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism |
Launch date | 1973 |
Former names | Independent Television System Central Television |
Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) 576i (SDTV) |
| Webcast | https://vtvgo.vn |
Official website | vtv |
| Language | Vietnamese, English, French, Russian, Chinese, Japanese |
| Subsidiary | VTV Digital VFC VTV Sports TVAd VTV College VTVcab SCTV VSTV |
VTV was established with technical assistance and training from Cuba on 7 September 1970.[4][5] Color television was experimented in 1977 and adopted the French SECAM standard and fully implemented in 1986.[6] 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.[7][8]
Channels
As of 2026, VTV runs the following channels:[9][10][11][12]
- VTV1: News and current affairs channel; 24/7.[13] The channel also broadcasts live national events and parliament meetings. Music and movies are the only fields that mostly fall outside its main format. VTV1 was initially broadcast on 7 September 1970. An HD version of VTV1 was launched on 31 March 2014. It is one of the three must-carry national channels, and it must be carried free-to-air by all satellite and cable providers in Vietnam.
- VTV2: Science and education channel; broadcasting 24/7. The channel also broadcasts foreign TV series. VTV2 started transmission on 1 January 1990. An HD version of VTV2 was launched on 20 May 2015.
- VTV3: Sports and entertainment channel, broadcasting 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: An international channel officially launched in 1998, offering a best-of package of programming from VTV's domestic channels to the Vietnamese diaspora, being available in Taiwan's CHT MOD on Channel 215. An HD version of VTV4 was launched on 24 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.
- VTV7: Educational and children-orientated channel, broadcast from 06:00 to 24:00. VTV7 and VTV7 HD soft-launched from 20 November 2015 and began broadcasting officially on 1 January 2016.
- VTV8: Specialized channel for viewers in the Central and Central Highlands region of Vietnam, broadcast 24/7. VTV8 was launched on 1 January 2016.
- VTV9: Specialized channel for viewers in the Southeast region of Vietnam, before it launched as national channel, its release as regional channel on 8 October 2007. An HD version of VTV9 was launched on 28 August 2015. On January 1st, 2016, VTV Can Tho 1 and VTV9 merged to VTV9 as national channel.
- VTV10: Specialized channel for viewers in the Southwest region of Vietnam, broadcast 24/7. It was soft-launched on 10 October 2022 after the closure of VTV6 and began broadcasting officially from 13 October 2022 as VTV Can Tho. On 30 March 2026, VTV Can Tho change to VTV10.
- VTV5 Tây Nam Bộ: A bilingual Khmer-Vietnamese channel and first regional variation of VTV5, broadcast 24/7. VTV5 TNB was launched on 1 January 2016.
- VTV5 Tây Nguyên: Ethnic language channel in Central Highlands region of Vietnam and second regional variation of VTV5, broadcast 24/7. VTV5 TN was launched on 17 October 2016.
- Vietnam Today: English-language international channel, broadcast 24/7. Vietnam Today launched on 7 September 2025.
All channels are also available via satellite, digital terrestrial, and digital cable networks across Vietnam. Through its cable television subsidiary VTVcab and its participation in joint ventures SCTV and K+, VTV also partakes in the Vietnamese pay television market.
Defunct channels
Criticism and controversies
VTV4 has been criticized by South Vietnamese refugees and Vietnamese emigrants, due to the network supporting communist rule.[14][15]
On 28 February 2016, VTV admitted that they had used copyrighted content without permission in some of its programs. Thus, VTV's YouTube channel was terminated. The case was brought into attention after videographer Bui Minh Tuan claimed 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.[16] In 2008, VTV lost its rights to broadcast the Miss World competition due to copyright issues.[17]
Awards
Asiavision
| Year | Award ceremony | Category | Nominee / Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Asiavision Annual Awards | Outstanding Reporting on Climate Change and Adaptation | VTV | Won | [18] |
| Outstanding Reporting of a News Story | VTV | Won | |||
| 2021 | Coverage of the Year | VTV | Won | [19] | |
| 2025 | Asiavision Awards | Best Disaster Coverage | Won | [20] |