In its first 44-year period (1945 to 1989), VOV always fulfilled its commitments and proved itself as the most efficient tool to bring the Party and Government’s voice to the people. However, many changes have taken place since 1990 when the country decided to develop a market economy and integrate with the rest of the world.

Over the last 20 years VOV editorial and technical staff have spared no effort to meet the increasing needs of listeners. 1989 was a landmark in the development of broadcasting industry as VOV began to change its programme structure and content.

Before 1989, VOV’s programmes were broadcast three times a day from 4h55 to 8h00 in the morning; from 11h30 to 13h00 at noon, and from 16h30 to 22h30 in the evening. On Sunday, it broadcast continuously from 4h55 to 22h30. Since January 1, 1989, VOV’s domestic service has broadcast continuously from 4h55 to 22h30 everyday.

It can be said that the increased air time from Jan. 1, 1989 has created a breakthrough in VOV’s programming and opened up a new way of thinking for radio producers. Many new radio broadcasts have become the brand names of VOV during the renovation process. They include the Senior Citizens’ Club, State and Law, and particularly the 45-minute Magazine Show, the forerunner of the Social Issues Forum, the Music and News service and FM 100Mhz FM channel.

The national renovation process and changes from a subsidized and bureaucratic centralized economy to a market economy then created competition within the mass media and between radio programmes. This requires VOV to continuously renew itself. VOV human resources were strengthened through a harsher recruitment process held in 1994 and 1996. This helped VOV compete with other press agencies and created a new energy to improve programming quality by diversifying topics while focusing on a target audience.

Some big events in VOV’s renewal process: In 1998, VOV’s print newspaper was launched and one year later, the VOV online newspaper (VOVNews) appeared, providing audiences with new ways to access information. The VOV newspaper listed the best radio programmes for listeners to tune in to if it is convenient. VOVnews helped its audiences all over the world access VOV programmes through the internet.

In the past, VOV had broadcast on only two channels, namely one internal and one overseas channel. Currently it broadcasts on 5 independent channels to meet the different needs of audiences. They include the News and Current Affairs channel (VOV1), the Culture, Science and Education channel (VOV2), the Music, News and Entertainment channel (VOV3), the Ethnic Languages Channel (VOV4) and the Overseas Service (VOV5). The radio News and Current Affairs channel launched in 2006 breathed new life into radio programming. Worth noticing among a series of new programmes highly appreciated by listeners is “Talk with Us”, which receives hundreds of phone calls after each broadcast and hundreds of letters every month. The success of this programme is attributed to producers' interaction with listeners.

The rearrangement and renewal of VOV1 and VOV2 channels opened up a new approach for modern radio broadcasting through a series of open programmes which are much closer to listener demands. However, worthy of note was the launch of the VOV Traffic Information channel in 2009 especially for road users. This channel has become a communications phenomenon, making VOV unrivalled in the mass media for urban listeners.

VOV Traffic, with its “reliable information and friendly approach”, has become the most useful radio channel in the mass media. Most of its air time is broadcast live and listeners can call the radio at any time of the day. Car drivers even switch on VOV Traffic Information channel automatically. The VOV Traffic Information channel testifies to the role of radio broadcasting as the leading and most interesting format of communication by virtue of fastness, immediacy and unlimited interaction. The successful launch of the VOV Traffic Information channel was hailed as “a spectacular return of radio” by Vietnamnet.

Over the last 65 years, Radio the Voice of Vietnam has secured a firm position as the only communications corporation with such a diverse range of media services, such as daily broadcasting, print media, TV broadcasting and VOVNews online. Everyday, VOV broadcasts for more than 300 hours, which makes it one of the radio stations with the most airtime in the world.