Why are prime time TV shows losing their appeal?

CHANGING CONTENT, BROADCASTING TIME STILL "LACK OF AUDIENCE"

In early 2025, Vietnam Television (VTV) changed the prime time slot for broadcasting TV series with the hope of creating a big push, creating a habit of watching TV series at fixed, more suitable times to attract audiences of many ages.

Scene from the movie My Father, the One Who Stayed

PHOTO: VFC

In late 2024 and early 2025, after Doc Dao and Di Giua Troi Ruc Roi "made waves" with sky-high ratings and virality on social networks after each episode aired, films like Khong Thoi Gian and Di Ve Mien Co Nang broadcast in prime time on VTV1 and VTV3 did not attract the attention of the audience as expected.

Director Nguyen Danh Dung's Timeless stopped at an average rating (according to reference data, it was less than 4%) even though the cast included many veteran and young faces that were quite impressive. The film's content was also quite "current" when conveying the image of soldiers in wartime as well as peacetime. The film Going to the sunny land featured young faces with bright appearances such as Binh An, Khanh Ly, Yen Dan, but the script did not have many highlights, the content was superficial, and the advertising was blatant, making the film leave no impression and end in a lackluster manner.

From February 17, the prime time dramas changed to 8:00 - 8:30 pm (VTV3) and 9:00 - 9:30 pm (VTV1) which are considered suitable to attract audiences with "Nhung khuong duong bua", "Cha toi nguoi o lai", "Me bien" . Notably, "Cha toi nguoi o lai " was "remade" from the Chinese drama "Lat danh danh nguoi nha" (In the name of the family) . In the first few episodes, the drama was rated quite impressive with a cast that was considered suitable for the role and had good acting, such as Meritorious Artist Thai Son, Meritorious Artist Bui Nhu Lai, Thu Quynh, Nguyen Hoang Ngoc Huyen, Thai Vu, Tran Nghia. According to the film's screenwriter Tran Dan Phuong, although the drama is a "remake" of a famous foreign drama, the script is imbued with Vietnamese elements, culture, and people. However, the drama has not created a strong attraction for the audience after 2/3 of its broadcast period.

Dusty Roads is a type of travel film - as director Trinh Le Phong shared, bringing a story of the journey full of experiences of the characters in the film and conveying many meaningful messages about humanity, love, family, with a talented cast such as Meritorious Artist Vo Hoai Nam, Dinh Tu, Quynh Chau... With newer content, the film still does not leave much of an impression.

Director Nguyen Phuong Dien's Mother of the Sea , after the end of No Time, also faced a gloomy situation in terms of virality on social networks, despite its quite good content about the lives and tragedies of fishermen in a fishing village in the Southwest. This is a rare TV series that exploits this topic with a message of healing after the tragedies and losses caused by storms and floods. Confirming with Thanh Nien reporter, a representative of VFC also commented: "I find the film's content to be new and quite good, but the virality is still low. Perhaps society is interested in many other things or the audience still prefers films with more drama and a faster pace."

SCREEN LACK OF HIGHLIGHTS

Compared to the primetime dramas that once "caused a storm" when each episode had several million viewers on platforms like YouTube or the virality with very "hot" cuts on TikTok, the dramas currently airing have less than 100,000 views per episode; interactions and comments on film groups and forums are also very small.

Movie Dusty Roads

PHOTO: VFC

Commenting on the decline in appeal of prime-time television dramas, director Trinh Le Phong said that the main reason is the quality of the dramas. In addition, audiences today have many choices, just need a smartphone or tablet to watch movies or other entertainment programs from any country. Therefore, if the quality of the dramas is not improved, the appeal of television dramas will decrease.

Speaking more about whether audiences today like to watch movies with a lot of drama, director Trinh Le Phong said: "Currently, movies with new, meaningful content, made well, even if they are not "hot", do not mean that the movies are not good. But it seems that people like drama more. Movies have to have something ironic for the audience to argue, push each other to argue online". However, the director also emphasized: "The director or screenwriter still has to determine what they are making the movie for, what they are bringing, or just telling a story for people to argue about".

According to screenwriter Pham Dinh Hai, if a TV series wants to attract audiences, the screenwriter must create characters that the audience will pay attention to, and the film must have many elements that attract attention. This is very important to create the atmosphere of the film. Currently, several films that are being broadcast in prime time have a somewhat similar atmosphere, not enough drama or highlights to attract audiences.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/vi-sao-phim-truyen-hinh-chieu-gio-vang-giam-suc-hut-185250417232514798.htm