Over the past four years, DatVietVAC had begun an operation to transform itself from a leading media company to a leading media technology company. Having seen the rise of over-the-top (OTT) players in other markets, such as Netflix or Amazon Prime, DatVietVAC saw a gap in Vietnam. To meet the demand, it began developing a streaming platform called VieON that integrates over 100 TV channels and provides 100,000 hours of copyrighted content. What the company did not realize at the beginning was how COVID-19 would speed up that timeline.

Indeed, COVID-19 and the uncertainty surrounding it was a unique opportunity for DatVietVAC to advance its plans. In June 2020, amidst the global public health crisis, Thanh made the decision quickly to launch VieON, even before a formal arrangement had been reached with its partner BCG Digital Ventures.

The VieON team started working to meet the new release timeline immediately; it adapted plans, moved the launch event online, and organized a promotional concert in under three weeks. On the first day of launch, VieON became the most downloaded app both on Android and iOS platforms in Vietnam. Part of the appeal was the one-stop-shop

While VieON does offer non-Vietnamese content and acquires blockbuster titles from other markets such as China, South Korea, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom, Thanh believes that “emotional engagement comes from seeing people who look like you on TV.” As an example, the mini-drama Khong The Roi Mat (Can’t Take My Eyes Off [You]), which was part of the content lineup for the launch of VieON in the summer of 2020, has amassed over 5.5 million views for a single episode to date. The drama featured VieON’s brand ambassadors: Jack – J97, one of the most talked-about singers in Vietnam, and co-star Thuy Ngan, one of Vietnam’s top actresses.

Another good example is the Song Show, which has been a top-rated show in Vietnam for the past few years and has become part of the Lunar New Year Tradition. Song means “Waves,” and the annual Song Show is meant to be a celebration of everything culture-related that has made waves in Vietnam in the past year. During the pandemic, DatVietVAC produced a summer variation of the Song Show – the first time the show was produced for an occasion other than Lunar New Year, resulting in quite a bit of anticipation for the program.

In fact, DatVietVAC has a track record of pioneering entertainment shows, including Chung Suc (Family Feud) and Vietnam Idol decades ago, and On Gioi! Cau Day Roi (Thank God You Are Here), Nguoi Ay La Ai (Who Is Single Vietnam), and Sieu Tri Tue (The Brain Vietnam), which not only set new records for trending content and concurrent users (CCU) on YouTube but also became the source and origin of expressions that went viral and became catchphrases for a whole generation of Vietnamese.