Ho Chi Minh Television (HTV)
Ho Chi Minh City Television (HTV) is the official television broadcaster serving Vietnam’s largest metropolis, operating under the aegis of the local government. Established as a leading media institution in southern Vietnam, HTV plays a central role in disseminating state-sanctioned information and promoting the activities of the municipal authorities.
Media assets
Television: HTV1, HTV2, HTV3, HTV Key, HTV7, HTV9, HTV Co.op, HTV Sport, HTVC, HTVC Film, HTVC Music, HTVC Family, Hplus, HTVC Women, HTVC Travel & Living, HTVC Plus, VGS Shop, FBNC
State Media Matrix Typology
Ownership and governance
HTV is wholly owned and operated by the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, which acts as the executive arm of the Communist Party at the municipal level. Functionally, the broadcaster operates as a department of the Committee itself. Its senior management, including the general director, is directly appointed by the city authorities, ensuring that the channel remains aligned with the political and strategic priorities of the Party-state.
Source of funding and budget
During the 2000s, HTV was widely regarded as a trailblazer in Vietnam’s commercial media sector, being among the first state-affiliated broadcasters to capitalize on advertising revenue. By the early 2010s, the station publicly declared financial self-sufficiency, claiming it no longer relied on government subsidies.
However, the global economic downturn that began in 2007, compounded by long-term volatility in Vietnam’s advertising market, eroded this financial independence. In the years that followed, HTV quietly resumed receiving financial support from the state. The precise scale of this subsidy remains opaque, as the broadcaster does not publish detailed financial statements.
Vietnam’s advertising market is heavily centralized and regulated, with key contracts managed by the Vietnam Television Advertising and Services Center (TVAd), a subsidiary of national broadcaster VTV. This structural dependency implies that HTV’s revenue streams—and by extension its operational autonomy—are subject to indirect control by central state institutions.
In 2024, HTV reportedly scaled back some of its entertainment and variety programming in response to tightening advertising margins and increased competition from private digital platforms. Internal reports suggest the station has sought additional municipal funding to maintain its core operations, though no official budget figures for FY2024–2025 have been made publicly available as of June 2025.
Editorial independence
HTV’s editorial output remains firmly under the purview of the city’s political leadership. The broadcaster serves as a mouthpiece for the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, tasked primarily with communicating Party policy, promoting government initiatives, and reinforcing official narratives on political, economic, and social matters.
There is no independent statutory framework that guarantees editorial autonomy for HTV. Nor does the station operate under any external supervisory body or independent regulator. Content decisions are internally managed, with news and current affairs coverage subject to vetting by senior Party-aligned editors and officials.
August 2025