The national television festival began on Dec. 18 in the central city ofDa Nang, bringing together producers and other broadcast professionalsto share experiences.

About 700 entries from both State-owned and private studios will also rival for recognition as the best works of 2011.

Eight categories including children's programming; documentary andreporting; short reporting; science and education programmes; talkshows; ethnic programmes; music shows; and television series will bejudged by different jury panels.

The works reflect thecountry's political, social, economic and cultural achievements as wellas current issues such as hunger and poverty, corruption and thecampaign to emulate President Ho Chi Minh's moral example, according tothe organising committee.

The festival used to be limitedto State-owned studios, but private studios recently have been allowedto take part. This year, 12 private studios are competing in the threecategories of reporting, talk shows and documentaries.

"Many high-quality productions have been made by private studios," saidNguyen Ha Nam , deputy head of the organising committee. "It isn'treasonable for them to be absent from the festival."

Thedirector of the private studio Phuoc Sang will also serve this year onthe six-member jury panel for the television series. The panel, chairedby writer and playwright Le Phuong, has already started reviewingentries in the multiple-episode category (10-50 episodes) that includesVTV Film Centre's Chu Tich Tinh (Provincial Chairman); TK-LCommunication's Goi Nang (Sun Hailing); and World Star Communication'sHuyen Su Thien Do (Legendary History of the Citadel).

Three workshops and two exhibitions will be included as part of thefestival. The workshops will discuss how to manage and evaluate thequality of television shows, television technology development, andco-operation between the national and local televisions. A forum willalso be held to discuss cultural heritage conservation anddevelopment./.