VTV 'lost channel' on OTT platform, audience suffers

In recent days, many viewers and users of pay TV services were surprised when two content channels VTV2 and VTV3 were interrupted, then... disappeared from the channel list on some paid platforms such as FPT Play, MyTV or TV360. Channels such as VTV1, VTV4 to VTV9, Can Tho channel... still appeared and were viewed normally.

As of January 20, this situation has not been resolved. The initial reason given by the three paid OTT platforms was that they had not yet reached an agreement with VTV. In the latest announcement issued by VTV Times on the evening of January 19, VTV said that since the end of 2024, the unit has worked and discussed with partners who are pay TV service providers on a new cooperation model, aiming to harmonize content value, investment costs with the interests of audiences as well as businesses.

"Up to now, many units have reached an agreement with VTV on cooperation in continuing broadcasting. For units that have not yet reached an agreement, VTV does not have the necessary legal basis to maintain signal supply for the entire channel package," information on VTV Times stated.

VTV2 and VTV3 channels are no longer in the list of FPT Play platform.

This incident is creating a wave of debate in the user community because the two channels that were stopped are VTV2 (science, technology, education , life) and VTV3 (sports, entertainment) which took place after 13 VTC channels along with VOV channels, Nhan Dan Television stopped broadcasting from January 15. Currently, pay TV platforms such as FPT Play, TV360, MyTV have tens of millions of users nationwide, watching on platforms from TV to mobile devices.

Also according to VTV Times , "VTV channel is always the basic channel package of all television services, playing an important role in attracting subscribers and bringing in large revenue for telecommunications businesses. However, the copyright costs that television service providers are paying to VTV do not reflect the true value that VTV's content brings to pay television units."

After the channel loss, many users were confused because they had paid their TV fees to the parties, but there was still a risk that they would not be able to fully watch the programs on online platforms until the end of the Lunar New Year, when the time from now until the holiday was too short, hardly enough for the parties to come to a common agreement. "This could affect millions of households that have registered and paid for the service," an expert commented.

Some opinions say that VTV and businesses negotiating copyright is an economic relationship between the parties, the shutdown of the signal needs to have a roadmap and specific notice so as not to affect consumers in general, especially near the Lunar New Year, instead of suddenly implementing it, affecting the plans and habits of households that need to watch television. Currently, to watch VTV2 and VTV3 on the OTT platform, users can use VTV Go software, DVB-T2 digital terrestrial television system, or a few pay TV platforms that have reached an agreement.

The latest report from the Ministry of Information and Communications shows that the number of pay TV subscribers will increase from 18.3 million (in 2023) to 21.2 million by the end of 2024, equivalent to an increase of 14%. Meanwhile, the number of subscribers to over-the-top (OTT) TV services will also increase from 5.56 million to 7.4 million, equivalent to 33%.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/vtv-mat-kenh-tren-nen-tang-ott-khan-gia-chiu-thiet-185250120143055205.htm