Television commentators also need to change
The illegal Xôi Lạc TV broadcasting system has been dismantled. But in fact, watching football through unlicensed websites has become a habit of a part of fans for many years.
The diversity in tournaments from football to basketball, tennis; no need to download applications, no fees, simple operations, especially you can choose your favorite commentary stream, it can be a fan of the team or neutral... are factors that make many people choose to watch unofficial channels.
Sharing with Lao Dong, Q.L, who has many years of experience working at stations as well as many amateur tournaments, said that creating an enthusiastic, approachable but still standard commentary style is important to attract and retain viewers for station commentators.
He shared that first of all, station commentators should be closer, create openness to listen to the audience, continuously improve information and professional knowledge to minimize making mistakes about basic things. Station commentators can completely use words that catch up with social media trends, as long as they are not vulgar, as Bien Cuong once used a hot hit song to comment on Mbappe's goal: "I am drunk on you not because of alcohol, but because of you, you are pê".
Another important thing is to try to concentrate, create emotions from small to big matches. Because in a tournament, the number of small teams is always less than the giants, and if commentators can burn themselves out, ensuring accurate information about both small teams, doing well from normal matches will be recorded better, instead of just focusing on big matches, when doing small matches, they lose interest, 2-3 minutes can't say anything other than reading players' names," Mr. Q.L shared.
Also according to Mr. Q.L, broadcasters should be stricter in selecting commentators, like K+ once opened 2 commentator search programs, or can open contests on the broadcaster's fanpage, for contestants to apply, for viewers to comment. The broadcaster can find people with full talent to pursue the commentator profession, instead of the traditional selection method.
Efforts from broadcasters
In Vietnam, television stations are gradually changing to better serve young customers who tend to like interaction and closeness. FPT, VTVCab, Vieon... are also gradually changing their commentary style towards being closer, bringing true emotions into the plays.
FPT Play, the unit that owns the broadcasting rights of the English Premier League in Vietnam from January 1, 2026 to the end of the 2030-2031 season, is doing this way, by creating two streams of commentators in matches, one neutral, one emotional.
In which, the neutral flow is standard, detailed professional analysis of the match; the emotional flow creates closeness, comfort, unconstrainedness, increasing interaction with the audience watching but not ignoring the elements of the match. Audiences can choose the desired commentary flow when watching the program.
“We have implemented the form of emotional commentary since the AFF Cup 2022 tournament with the commentary duo Fat - Thin combined with Creative Director Dinh Tien Dung. When it was first implemented, the early days encountered many difficulties and received many reactions from public opinion. Step by step, we continuously adjusted and improved to meet the entertainment and enjoyment needs of users and were welcomed,” a representative of FPT Play shared with Lao Dong.
In addition to continuing to improve the quality of commentary and content, FPT Play also allows viewers to choose the type of commentary for matches in 1 signal/1 event channel.
Not only is it a choice of emotional commentary or professional commentary, but in matches such as the Premier League or NBA, viewers can also choose to follow commentary in the original language, this is also a form that many young people like when they can both practice listening to English and experience true emotions on the competition field," shared a representative of FPT Play.
More interaction with viewers is also of interest to other broadcasters. According to Lao Dong's investigation, SCTV - the copyright holder of the Spanish national championship (LaLiga) also has a series of changes in the 2025-2026 season.
The unit has organized a commentary program before the Hola Liga round. This is a form of change to increase interaction, viewers answering questions on the page will receive genuine gifts from LaLiga. SCTV is also considering creating 2 streams of comments, but due to the thin staff, it has not yet been implemented.
