Vietnam remains among Asia’s top formats markets, toggling between first and second place for the past three years.

Although volume of format commissions has dropped, Vietnam continues to acquire a significant proportion of the region’s total formats, according to ContentAsia’s ongoing Formats Outlook. 

In 2019, Vietnam commissioned/aired 58 local versions of foreign formats. Although this was two titles less than in full year 2018, the number still put the country in top spot by volume across the region. 

Vietnam, like other markets, remains well off 2017 format highs. 

In the first half of 2017, we counted 67 formats on air or commissioned. 

In the first half of 2018, this dropped 22% to 52 formats. 

A year later, in first half 2019, this dropped dramatically to 37 formats, recovering by the end of the year to 58 and top regional spot with 19% share of the 312 formats in 16 markets we tracked across the region. 

Vietnam’s closest competitors last year were Thailand (51 formats) and India (42 formats). 

Game shows are the most significant contributor to Vietnam’s formats position, making up 53% of the total last year. This was up from a 41% share in 2018. 

Game shows formats increased from 31 in 2019 from 25 in 2018.

Game show titles include all3media’s Cashcab, CJ ENM’s Crazy Market, Dori Media’s The Best of All, Endemol Shine’s The Wall, Fremantle’s Price Is Right season 14, Keshet’s Boom! seasons one and two, NBCUniversal’s Still Standing, Red Arrow’s You Deserve It season seven, Sony Picture Television’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Talpa’s 5 Gold Rings, Tokyo Broadcasting System’s Sasuke season five and Workpoint Group’s Lightning Quiz. 

Most of the game show gains were made at the expense of reality, which dropped to a 14% share last year over 2018.  

Singing contests were also up significantly, from seven in 2018 to 11 in 2019. 

Entertainment titles dropped from four (2018) to two (2019) titles, and reality decreased from 15 (2018) to eight (2019). 

Drama was also down, dropping from four (2018) to three (2019), and dance contest and factual were steady with one title each year. 

Adventure, sports, feature films and variety dropped off the radar completely last year. 

At the same time, sitcom was introduced last year. 

Another first last year was a local Vietnamese version of South Korean broadcaster KBS’ singing format Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend. Vietnam was the first country In Asia to acquire local rights; the show has yet to be aired.  
Talpa sold the most titles in Vietnam last year, with 11 sales, followed by Endemol Shine (eight formats), Fremantle (seven formats) and NBCUniversal (six formats).