Television came late to Laos. Launched in 1983, Lao television was initially broadcast for only three hours each day on Channel 8, using mainly non-professional equipment with a transmitter output of just 1Kw, barely adequate to serve the capital city. This service was administered jointly with radio broadcasting under the combined Lao National Radio and Television until 1993, when Lao National Television (LNTV) was established as a separate agency.

In that same year Lao television switched to channel 9 following a broadcasting frequency agreement with Thailand. Since 1993 foreign assistance, particularly from the Japanese and Vietnamese governments, has enabled LNTV to construct a new broadcasting centre, purchase new equipment and upgrade its transmitter capacity.

Today LNTV comprises two channels. TV1 is broadcast for 13½ hours per day on channel 9 via 5Kw and 10Kw transmitters, offering mainly news and current affairs programming. The country’s second channel, TV3, is broadcast for eight hours per day Monday-Friday and 10 hours per day Saturday-Sunday via 2Kw and 10Kw transmitters; originally established in 1994 as a joint venture with Thailand, TV3 quickly became popular for its programming diet of quiz shows, soap operas and films, and since becoming an integral part of the LNTV network in 2002 it has retained its light entertainment programming mix. A third channel, TV5, was launched in 2002 as a joint venture with the TV5 International of France, featuring four hours per day of French-language programmes relayed from TV5 International. However, the agreement was not subsequently renewed and in 2004 TV5 was closed down and replaced by French- and English-language news broadcasts on TV1.

As part of a Chinese joint venture, a new third channel - Channel 7 - is currently being planned.

In recent years LNTV programming has been relayed by satellite to all parts of the country, where it makes up the greater part of the daily programming schedules of the provincial television stations. In fact, only Vientiane Municipality and the larger provinces such as Luang Prabang and Savannakhet have sufficient resources to make their own programmes - Luang Prabang Province is the most active, with just one hour of home-grown programming each day.

Regional television stations in Laos comprise Vientiane Capital Radio and Television Station, Saysomboun Special Region Radio Station and 15 provincial stations - Attapeu Provincial Radio and Television Station, Bokeo Provincial Radio and Television Station, Borikhamxai Provincial Radio and Television Station, Champassak Provincial Television Station, Houaphanh Provincial Radio and Television Station, Khammouane Provincial Television Station, Luang Namtha Provincial Radio and Television Station, Luang Prabang Provincial Television Station, Oudomxai Provincial Radio and Television Station, Phongsali Provincial Radio and Television Station, Saravane Provincial Radio and Television Station, Savannakhet Provincial Television Station, Sayaburi Provincial Radio and Television Station, Sekong Provincial Radio and Television Station and Xieng Khouang Provincial Radio and Television Station.

Those living close to the borders with Thailand and Việt Nam are able to receive broadcasts from those countries without difficulty. Given that the Thai language is intelligible to all Lao people, Lao National Television with its very limited resources has found it particularly difficult to compete with the multiple programming choices beamed across the Mekong from Nong Khai, and in recent years the cultural impact of Thai television upon young people in Laos has been considerable.

In 2002 the Ministry of Information and Culture entered into a joint venture with a Chinese cable TV company to establish Lao Cable Television, which offers a bouquet of 30 different foreign television channels, including BBC, CNN, CNBC, Worldnet, ABC Asia Pacific, TV5 (France), DW (Germany), RAI (Italy), MTV, Star Sports, plus Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Cambodian, Korean and other channels.

Laos does not as yet have satellite transmission capability. Satellite transmissions currently received in Laos are broadcast by Thailand's UBC, and by regulation the Ministry of Information and Culture requires individual or any organisation using a satellite dish to pick up these transmissions to be licenced. However, officials of the Ministry of Information and Culture admit that the licencing of satellite dishes has not been actively enforced, with the result that today a large number of satellite dishes are used illegally. In the meantime the Lao government is seeking funds to finance the launch of its own satellite, Lao Star, which will occupy a geostationary orbit with a footprint covering all of South East Asia, parts of eastern India and southern China, serving a potential consumer population of approximately 200 million.