Vietnamese Television: Content is boring due to low investment.

Television content producers complain that the current mechanism for collaborative production of broadcast content on television channels is facing many difficulties due to insufficient funding, making it hard to create high-quality content. This is why foreign channels still occupy a large share of the pay-TV market.

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According to Ms. Ngo Bich Hanh, Deputy General Director of Vietnam Media Corp – BHD, the Vietnamese pay-TV market offers very low returns for domestic content producers. With the lowest monthly subscription fees in the region (averaging only 4-5 USD), and advertising primarily on broadcast channels, companies like BHD that produce content for pay-TV without their own broadcasting channels face significant challenges due to limited funding.

The budget for producing a television series is very limited, only about 100-200 million VND, and even the most expensive productions only cost around 1 billion VND. That's why foreign content on pay television remains a vast market, rather than domestically produced content.

According to Ms. Hanh, reality TV shows in Vietnam are receiving significant investment due to attracting numerous sponsors. This is in contrast to foreign companies, where feature films receive much larger investments than reality TV shows. Limited budgets would make it impossible to produce high-quality content for broadcast on foreign channels.

Ms. Le Thi Phuong Thuy, Director of Dream Field Studio (HTV3), stated that HTV3 has its own television channel and also manages advertising on it, thus having control over both the output and advertising business, thereby improving content quality for the past two years. Currently, all major pay-TV companies such as SCTV and VTVcab are investing heavily in content production, which shows that investing in domestic content production is the best option.

However, Ms. Phuong Thuy argued that it would be very difficult for businesses to invest in independent content production. This is because content producers cannot maintain exclusivity due to copyright infringement and become dependent on broadcasters for profits. Abroad, content producers enjoy a 10-15% profit share and are entitled to copyright to market other sources.

The biggest challenge for content producers is the rapid pace of technological development. Adapting content to meet the demands of multi-screen broadcasting is a significant hurdle. For example, mobile content is more expensive than in other countries; while in other countries content providers only share 20% of their revenue with network operators, in Vietnam it's 40-45%. High costs and rapidly changing technology pose considerable challenges for television content producers.

The advantage lies with producers who have their own content distribution channels, as they have prime time to broadcast their programs. Ms. Thuy suggested that VTVcab and SCTV should open their doors to independent producers, as broadcasters also need to diversify their content to offer various service packages.

Another opinion suggests that the current content buying and selling mechanism of broadcasters puts pressure on independent content producers, who have to both produce high-quality content and ensure advertising revenue, while the broadcast programs are copyrighted by the broadcaster. Ultimately, the content producers gain nothing. Broadcasters need a more open mechanism for content producers in order to obtain better programs.

Sharing her thoughts on the cost of producing television content, Ms. Nguyen Tram-Stevenin, Head Representative in Vietnam of FOX International Channels, also stated that it is very difficult to create good content without money, and financial investment is crucial to improving the quality of television content.

When FOX first entered Vietnam, its initial step was to localize its channels, followed by collaborating with local businesses to develop program formats that meet local standards. Many FOX programs have now been filmed and produced to suit audiences in the Asia-Pacific region, including episodes specifically for Vietnam. FOX's strategy is to partner with local content producers to create channels that cater to Vietnamese audiences.

Ms. Tram also stated that foreign companies are very concerned about copyright respect, and if FOX invests in cooperating with domestic businesses, the first requirement is that copyright must be respected.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Ta Son Dong, Deputy General Director of VTVcab, stated that the challenge of content quality in general, and cable television in particular, lies in the fact that the main source of revenue for television comes from advertising. If revenue can be increased, it will be easier to reinvest in content, creating programs that meet audience needs, and thus good content will contribute to increased revenue. Therefore, the main issue for content producers is to choose wisely in their investments. VTVcab is willing to offer better revenue sharing if producers create high-quality content.

According to ICTnews