TNS Media Vietnam has started conducting weekly television-viewer surveys around the country for VTV1, VTV2, VTV3 and VTV9 channels.

Viewers will be surveyed about which channels, programmes and timeslots they use and how many hours a day they watch TV, TNS Media Vietnam managing director Tran Thi Thanh Mai said.

Under the contract signed on March 30 between TNS Media Vietnam and VTVAd , Vietnam Television’s advertising centre, the surveys will cover 20 cities and provinces of the country’s three key economic zones in the north, centre and the south until March 2011.

Hanoi , Bac Ninh, Hung Yen, Da Nang , Quang Nam , HCM City , Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau are some of the areas to be surveyed.

More than 37 million people live in the three key economic zones with over 15 million in urban areas.
On average, each urban household in the north has two TV sets, those in the centre. 1.7 and in the south, 1.8. The rates for rural areas are 1.4, 1.2 and 1.3 respectively for the three zones, according to a basic survey done recently by TNS Media Vietnam during December and January.

VTV1 and VTV3 are most favoured by viewers while HBO, Star Movies and Cinemax are the leading foreign pay channels.

People in Vietnam spend an average 4.3 hours per day sitting before their TV sets, slightly more in the north with 4.6 hours, while the figure is 4.2 hours in the south.

Generally, viewers prefer news and Vietnamese films. More audiences in the centre prefer game shows, while more southern viewers prefer Vietnamese TV series and reality TV programmes./.