Radio

Young Vietnamese increasingly turning

V
from 27.6% in the 2012-2013 study. The FM band is by
ietnam’s government-run VTV television
far the most commonly used, with 3.8% of Vietnamese
network continues to dominate the country’s
saying they listen to AM radio and 1.0% listening 6to
media landscape. However, the current survey
shortwave radio on a weekly basis. Notably, Vietnamese
also points to a powerful generational shift in media use
are now about as likely to have listened to the radio on
toward online news sources and less dependence on state
mobile phones (10.3%) as on conventional radio sets
TV.
(11.1%) in the past week.
This trend is perhaps more clearly reflected in the
results when Vietnamese adults are asked to name the Internet
three media outlets that are their most important sources Frequency of TV and radio use have changed little
of information. While almost three-fourths of those age since the previous survey, conducted in late 2012 and
35 and older (74.1%) include early 2013. By contrast, the
VTV among their responses, proportion of Vietnamese
less than half of those age 15- adults who use the Internet
34 (48.6%) do so. Young weekly or more continued to
people, in turn, are more rise, from 26.3% in the earlier
likely to name online sources survey to 38.8% today.
— most commonly the Among those who live in
popular Vietnamese news and urban areas, that figure has
information portals 24 Gio surged from just over one-
and Dantri.com, and the third (34.7%) in 2012-2013 to
global social media giant more than half (51.8%)
Facebook. currently.
However, as Internet
Media Platforms in Vietnam access has spread in Vietnam,
Television the state has increasingly
sought ways to control the
Television remains
flow of online information it
Vietnam’s media platform.
considers threatening. Media watchdog groups like
Almost all Vietnamese adults say they watch TV at least
Reporters without Borders commonly condemn the
weekly, regardless of demographic category. National
jailing or harassment of bloggers for, in the Vietnamese
VTV stations reach more than nine in 10 adults (91.6%)
government’s terms, “abusing democratic freedoms.”
every week, far more than any other network. Most of
the country’s 64 provinces have their own government- As in most developing markets, the prevalence of
controlled stations, and almost eight in 10 adults (78.9%) Internet use in Vietnam is particularly uneven among
say they watch their provincial channel weekly or more. age and education groups. Two-thirds of adults under
age 35 (and 78.5% of those age 15 to 24) say they’ve
Nationwide, 38.0% of Vietnamese television owners
gone online in the past week, vs. just 15.8% of those 35
say their TV signal comes from a terrestrial antenna,
and older. Similarly, 69.0% of Vietnamese with post-
while 25.1% use a satellite dish and 27.4% have cable
secondary (vocational or college) education use the
TV. Cable service has grown significantly more
Internet weekly, vs. 18.2% of those who have not
common since the 2012-2013 study, while use of
completed middle school.
conventional antennas has fallen somewhat.
 With regard to social media use in Vietnam, Google
Plus, Facebook and YouTube represent the top tier of news at least daily while almost all (96.8%) do so at
services, each used by more than one-fourth of all adults least once a week. There is little difference among
and a majority of those age 15-24 on a weekly basis. education or age categories in these results.
Zing Me, a social networking service that caters Almost all Vietnamese are comfortable with the
specifically to the Vietnamese population, and the idea that media organizations should advocate national
Vietnamese instant messaging app Zalo follow, both interests; 92.1% strongly or somewhat agree that
used weekly by almost one-fifth of adults overall. Vietnamese media should present the country and its
people in a positive way. Further, more than two-thirds
Mobile phones (68.6%) say they don’t believe overseas media can
A key factor in rising Internet use in Vietnam is the truthfully cover Vietnamese affairs.
growing availability of web-enabled phones and other However, most Vietnamese (58.2%) believe
mobile devices. Over the past decade, the government personal blogs are more believable than official news,
has supported an aggressive expansion of the country’s pointing to an underlying distrust of state media,
mobile data infrastructure to spur economic growth. particularly among younger and better-educated adults
Rising living standards have also fueled the expansion of who are most likely to use blogs and other online
Vietnam’s smartphone
market in recent years.
One result is that
mobile phones have
become the primary
means of accessing the
Internet in Vietnam, with
eight in 10 weekly web
users saying they used
their mobiles to go online
in the past seven days.
By contrast, less than
half (45.5%) say they
have used a desktop
computer to do so, and
just over one-fourth
(26.5%) have used a
laptop.
About three in 10 Vietnamese overall (30.6%) say information sources.
they use mobile apps, similar to the proportion who say
they have accessed the Internet on a mobile phone in the Methodology
past week. Those who do use mobile apps were asked to This report contains results from a nationally
name the three they use most frequently. Facebook is the representative, face-to-face survey of 3,000 Vietnamese
most commonly mentioned, included among their three residents aged 15 and older. The survey is representative
possible responses by 71.9% of mobile app users, of 58,563,000 adults in Vietnam (based on the estimated
followed at a distance by the instant messaging app Zalo 15-and-older population from the Population Reference
(44.6%) and Google (40.0%). Zalo was launched by Bureau). Interviewing was conducted between January
Vietnam’s leading Internet company VGN in 2012, and 20 and March 13, 2015. The national sample is weighted
has grown rapidly with an aggressive marketing strategy by age, gender, education, region and urban vs. rural
and a singular focus on the Vietnamese market. residency based on data from the Vietnamese General
Statistics Office and the Vietnamese National Census.
Use of and Attitudes toward News Media
Despite the country’s restrictive media environment, Contact
Vietnamese are extremely avid news consumers; almost For any questions or further information on these
nine in 10 adults (88.0%) say they access some type of data, please contact the Broadcasting Board of

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Governors at [email protected] or 202-203-4400.
Follow us on twitter at @BBGgov.