An estimated 25 million Vietnamese users streamed YouTube on their TV sets in May 2021, the biggest viewership in the Asia-Pacific region, the online video platform reported during their ‘YouTube Brandcast Delivered 2021’ conference on Thursday.

As the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in 2021 upended many behavior patterns among Vietnamese consumers, YouTube noticed a rising trend in content consumption via TV sets with Internet access, or Connected-TVs (CTVs).

According to the YouTube report, 45 percent of Internet users in Vietnam own CTVs, while 28.2 percent of local network subscribers use the Internet via smart TV devices.

TV viewing is considered a communal activity in Vietnam, with more than 90 percent of domestic users having reported watching TV with family and friends.

In May 2021, the average screen time for YouTube CTVs in Vietnam was over 90 percent longer than that for mobile or desktop apps.

Viewing time of humor content and football montages grew 150 percent year on year, while screen time on variety shows reported 200 percent growth during the same period.

The Vietnamese content creator community also witnessed growth, with a total of 950 channels reaching one million subscribers or more, a 35-percent increase from 2020. 

Content creators in Vietnam are seeing more success with their creative campaigns after utilizing YouTube’s supporting tools to catch up with viewers’ insights, as reflected by the average daily screen time of Vietnamese audiences passing the 70-minute mark in 2021.

“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 was a year of struggle for many citizens and businesses of Vietnam," said Tram Nguyen, country director for Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia at Google.

“The pandemic also changed many of our daily habits, as we have to stay home and utilize technology to appease our needs for connection and balance.”

The executive presented YouTube as the ideal platform for entertainment and soft skills, as well as a valuable tool for advertisers to boost brand awareness and reach the right groups of customers.

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