In the Conference on Planning and strategies for 2017 held on this morning (December 30^th), VNPT-Media has announced that customers would be able to use MyTV service without buying a set top box in the near future, since the service would soon be integrated into popular smart TV and smartBox Android in the market.

2016: A challenging year for the pay TV market

The year 2016 continues to be a challenging period for the pay TV market. The competition in the domestic market in terms of charges and customer retention is unlikely to stop in the forthcoming time, possibly causing negative impact on all enterprises. According to the statistics by MIC, by the end of 2016, there are approximately 12.5 million subscribers of pay TV in Vietnam, generating a revenue of VND12,000 billion, which is up by 25% compared to the same period of 2015.

Vietnam pay TV providers not only meet fierce domestic competition but also face with the threat from global competitors such as Netflix and free OTT applications. With improving network infrastructure from pay TV network providers and modern video compression technology, the quality of OTT applications is significantly enhanced, meeting the demand of viewers. However, this also means that there will be more challenges for traditional television service providers.

In this context, MyTV will face even greater obstacles since this service has not obtained a license for television production. Thus, MyTV has to purchase copy rights from other providers, making it difficult to compete with other services when it comes charges. Understanding its challenges, in 2016, MyTV has made considerable efforts to attract and retain its subscribers.

Within one year, MyTV has launched 3 new packages  (Fafilm, Danet, Film+) and 40 local channels, raising the total number of channels to 200, including 30HD channels. Almost all channels from VTV, VTVCab, K+, VTC, HCaTV and HTV are available on MyTV. In addition, the service also ran 13 promotions and introduced new features to customers as well as applied numerous solutions to enhance its quality service.

VNPT-Media CEO Ngo Dien Hy said that budget for Set top box equipment would be used for other promotions for MyTV subscribers.

Although MyTV has experienced customer defection, the service still attracts a great number of new subscribers. According to the statistics presented in the Conference, there are nearly 1.2 million MyTV subscribers, making MyTV the biggest pay TV provider based on IPTV and the 3^rd biggest pay TV provider in Vietnam. The growth in new subscribers was 324,000 subscribers, up by 27% compared to 2015, and the number of subscribers with extra charges increased by 116,000 subscribers, up by 29% compared to 2015.

A new direction from MyTV

Because MyTV can not compete with other providers in terms of charges, its competitive advantages lie in service quality, variety of content, user experience and customer service. Nevertheless, it is essential for MyTV to seek for new directions to be able to stay competitive in the market.