Television in Bulgaria
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(March 2019) |
Television in Bulgariawasintroduced in 1959.Global players such asNews Corporation,Modern Times Group,Central European Media Enterprises,Fox Broadcasting Companyand others operate the biggest and most popular media outlets in the country.
Terrestrial[edit]
In 1954, a team at the Machine and Electrotechnics Institute in Sofia (today called theTechnical University of Sofia) started experimentaltelevisionbroadcasting with two antennas (one for sound and one for image) on the roof of a building near theVasil Levskimonument in the city, after having previously conducted successful cable test transmissions. These experimental broadcasts aroused the interest of the Ministry of Communications, which decided to build a broadcasting tower in Sofia, with a state-controlled channel to air from it. The new channel started with an unofficial broadcast on 1 November 1959, and made its first official broadcast several days later with the live coverage of the 7 Novembermanifestation,commemorating theRussian Revolutionof 1917. The experimental channel of the MEI did not air anything but a test chart on that day, although it did show a greeting to the new Sofia Television Station three times after 19:05. The MEI channel continued to operate until late 1960, when the team started working on the future introduction of color television.
The new channel, later referred to as "Bulgarian Television" (BT) used theOIRTstandard of 625 lines and 25 frames per second. It also used the D/K audio system, which was generally done to prevent reception of Western European stations inEastern Bloccountries. Public attention was quickly caught by the new medium, and the number of bought and registered television sets increased gradually. In 1960, a powerful 20kilowatttransmitter was installed atBotev Peak,covering a large area of the country. BNT, from 1964, began broadcasting news, programmes and movies in monochrome to serve the rising number of viewers in Bulgaria. Later, more transmitters and retranslators were placed in various cities, towns and villages around the country.
Programming was controlled and influenced by theBulgarian Communist Party-run government in this time, as was usual in the Eastern Bloc. The first popular program were the news, which were titled "Around the World and at Home" ( "По света и у нас", with "at home" meaning in this case "in our country" ), a name which is used to this day. The news' trademark "spinning globe" opening, first animated in 1961, is also still used (albeit highly modified). Other popular shows started around this time were the children's block "Good Night, Children" ( "Лека нощ, деца", still in use), television theatre programs, the various sport events which were broadcast live from around the world, and music programs like the regular New Year celebration shows. Foreign programming in the early years was limited to mostlySoviet Unionproductions, as well as some direct rebroadcasts of Soviet television programming.
In 1972, the first color broadcast was made, again of a manifestation. TheSECAMcolor system was used, becausePALwas used in most western countries (except forFrance,where SECAM was invented). After several years, the entire programming was broadcast in color.
In 1974, the second channel of the Bulgarian Television was launched, with the original channel being called simply "first channel". Later, they were given on-screen logos and were named "BT1"(" БТ 1 ") and"BT2"(" БТ 2 "). In the late 1980s, some western programming was allowed, includingPink Panthercartoons and the television seriesLa piovra(Октопод) andEscrava Isaura(Робинята Изаура).Ivan Garelov'sPanoramaandKevork Kevorkyan'sVsyaka nedelyatalk shows/news magazineswere among BT's most popular programs. With the fall of the communist rule in 1989, the two channels changed dramatically. They started airing a lot ofUSfilms and TV series, one of the first beingThe Flintstones(Семейство Флинтстоун). Their names were also changed, BT 1 became Kanal 1 (Channel1) (Канал 1) and BT 2 becameEfir 2.The television organisation's name was changed toBulgarian National Television.In the 1990s, BNT changed the color television system toPAL,while keeping compatibility with older TV sets by using the DK audio standard (on such sets, onlyblack-and-whitepicture is seen). Efir 2's frequencies were sold in 2000 toNews Corporationfor the country's first over-the-air national channel:bTV.In 2008, Channel 1 was again renamed toBNT 1.The second programme started again in 2011 under the nameBNT 2.It merged the regionalBNTprogrammes.
Privately owned television channels started to appear immediately after the regime change. Most were associated with a cable television (CATV) network run by the same parent company. Around 1994–1995 private over-the-air broadcasters also appeared, but they usually only operated within a single area.Nova Televisionand7 Dni TV(7 дни,meaning7 days) were two of the first such channels, available only inSofia.AfterbTVtook overEfir 2's frequencies, another competition selectedNova Television,already popular in cable networks around the country, as the second privately owned national channel in Bulgaria. The authorities currently refuse to license further analogue terrestrial channels (including local ones), untilDVB-Tbroadcasting is started.
Digital terrestrial television in Bulgaria[edit]
TheBulgarian Telecommunications Companyprovided one experimentalDVB-Ttransponder in Sofia since 2004. First regular digital broadcast started on 1 March 2013, with a plan to terminate analog broadcasting on 1 September 2013. The Simulcast period (time between digital broadcast switch-on and analog broadcast switch-off) allowed people time to buy newintegrated Digital TVsorset-top boxes.Standards chosen are DVB-T and MPEG4 AVC/H.264 compression format, while DVB-T2 would not be used for now. On 30 September 2013, the analog broadcasting was officially terminated, leaving the country with 96,2% of the population DVB-T broadcasting coverage.[1]
Cable[edit]
Cable television (CATV) inBulgariaappeared in the early 1990s, with some of the earliest networks starting operation in 1991 and 1992. Satellite channels from other countries were one of the main features of cable television at the time and in the following years channels likeCartoon NetworkEurope,MTV EuropeanandDiscovery Channelbecame very popular, as more people subscribed to the (relatively cheap) cable TV operators. Many (if not all) cable companies created their owntelevision channels,which were available only to their subscribers. Due to technical limitations, it was initially difficult for such channels to be distributed to other populated places in the country, but in the late 90s several channels started to appear in the entire country usingBulgarian Telecommunications Companycables as the distribution method. In 1998,M SAT(then known as Mustang Sat) became the first Bulgarian channel available via satellite. The local terrestrial channelNova Televisionfrom Sofia became available all over the country in 1999 using cable transmission. Around 2000–2001, some foreign broadcasters such asDiscovery Channeland theHallmark Channel(nowDIVA Universalstarted Bulgarian translations of their channels usingDVBsubtitles.Currently, most cable networks carry a large selection of local and foreign channels, both translated and untranslated. Translation of foreign networks has since expanded from subtitles to voice dubbing, with channels likeAXNandJetix(formerlyFox Kids) (nowDisney Channel) having a Bulgarian audio track.
Analogue broadcasting is still used by operators, and it was the only method used before 2004–2005. Since then, many of them started lowering the number of analogue channels in order to launch DVB-C transponders. However, because the monthly fee for the digital packages is higher, some subscribers choose to continue using the analogue service, although with less channels than before. Currently, the biggest cable operators provideDVB-Cchannels in the major cities and towns. As of 2009, analogue channels are usually the only service available in villages.
Satellite[edit]
Satellite channels from Bulgaria appeared prior to the existence of a DTH operator. The first channel to start broadcasting via satellite wasMSAT(then known asMustangSat,after parent company Mustang) in 1998, operating fromVarna.Before this, the Mustang channel was distributed through cable lines, maintained by theBulgarian Telecommunications Company.The following year, theBulgarian National Televisionlaunched a special channel, TV Bulgaria (now known asBNT World), dedicated to Bulgarians living abroad. Several other channels followed, including the musical channel MM.
Then, in 2003, Bulsatcom became the first Bulgarian DTH operator, offering initially a limited amount of channels onHellas Sat 2.[2]The next year, ITV Partner (nowSatellite BG) was launched as a DTH service byInteractive Technologies PLC,broadcasting onEutelsat W2.[3]Both supplyDVB-Ssatellite television inBulgariaand mostEuropeancountries, with some of the TV channels using the two DTH operators as their main distribution medium (so that the channels are easily available to cable operators without the use of long-distance wires). The second half of 2010 saw the long anticipated launch of the third Bulgarian DTH provider, operated by Bulgaria'sVivacom.There is also a small package operated byTelenoronThor 3,which has for a long time distributed certain Bulgarian TV and radio channels.
Generally, Bulgarian television companies do not require a high fee for their channels' availability to viewers (some have no fee at all), but because of licensing restrictions of foreign programming, most satellite channels are encrypted, so that distribution outside Bulgaria can be limited. Free-to-view channels carry less (or none at all) such programming, airing for example music or locally produced programs only. Currently, most channels that broadcast nationally are available via satellite.
List of television channels[edit]
| Accessibility | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — free-to-air TV channels | — encrypted TV channels | — encrypted package channels | |||||
| Picture format | |||||||
| — 4:3 SD | — 4:3/16:9 SD | — 16:9 SD | — 16:9 HD | ||||
| Channel types | |||||||
| poly | — general, polythematic | info | — news, info | docu | — documentary, science | kids | — kids, cartoons |
| comedy | — series, entertainment | film | — films | sport | — sport | music | — music |
| hoby | — ecology, kitchen, hoby, reality | unconv | — politics, religion and unconventional | ||||
Terrestrial (free-to-air channels with national coverage)[edit]
- BNT 1,state-owned TV network
- BNT 2;state-owned TV network
- BNT 3,state-owned TV network
- Nova Television,TV network, used former analogue frequencies ofSoviet televisionnetworksTV OstankinoandORT
- bTV;TV network, used former analogue frequencies ofBNT's defunct second channelEfir 2
- Bulgaria ON AIR,part of the Investor.BG group of channels
Pay television[edit]
- Bloomberg TV Bulgaria
- TV+
- TVart
- Military TV Channel(Bulgarian:Военен телевизионен канал, ВТК) (operated by the Bulgarian military)
- Balkanika TV
- City TV
- E-Kids
- Code Health TV
- Code Fashion TV
- VTV
- Box TV
- Fan TV
- Folklor TV
- F+
- Film+
- Sport+
- HD+
- Hobby TV
- BG TOP Music
- Vivacom Arena
- Planeta TV
- Planeta Folk
- Planet Fun
- Rodina TV
- SKAT
- Travel HD
- The Voice
- Travel TV
- Community TV
- Euronews Bulgaria(Formerly TV Europa)
- 7/8 TV
Foreign channels translated into Bulgarian[edit]
Channels marked with an asterisk (*) have a Bulgarian audio channel, all others have Bulgariansubtitlesonly Channels marked with an plus (+) are broadcasting in HD
- Animal Planet+
- Star Crime(ex FOX Crime)*+
- Star Life(ex FOX Life)*+
- Star Channel(ex FOX)*+
- AXN*
- AXN Black*
- AXN White*
- Cinemax*+
- Cinemax 2*+
- Discovery Channel*+
- Discovery Science+
- Investigation Discovery*+
- TLC*
- Eurosport*+
- Eurosport 2*+
- HBO*+
- HBO2*+
- HBO3 (ex HBO Comedy)*+
- National Geographic Channel*+
- National Geographic Wild*+
- Travel Channel (UK)*+
- TV1000+
- Viasat Nature+ (as Viasat History/Nature HD)
- Viasat History+ (as Viasat History/Nature HD)
- Viasat Explorer*
- Fine Living Network
- CBS Reality
- Disney Channel*+ (its broadcasting in HD only as on demand)
- Cartoon Network*+ (its broadcasting in HD only as on demand)
- Cartoonito*+ (its broadcasting in HD only as on demand)
- Nickelodeon*+ (its broadcasting in HD only as on demand)
- Nicktoons*+ (its broadcasting in HD only as on demand)
- Nick Jr.*+ (its broadcasting in HD only as on demand)
Most viewed channels[edit]
Source: Nielsen Admosphere Bulgaria, December 2022 [4]
| Position | Channel | Share of total viewing (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | bTV | 22.96 |
| 2 | Nova TV | 17.31 |
| 3 | BNT 1 | 7.76 |
| 4 | Diema Family | 3.87 |
| 5 | Diema | 3.33 |
| 6 | Kino Nova | 2.62 |
| 7 | bTV Cinema | 2.07 |
| 8 | FOX Crime | 1.97 |
| 9 | Nova News | 1.66 |
| 10 | bTV Action | 1.49 |
| 11 | bTV Comedy | 1.39 |
| 12 | bTV Story | 1.21 |
| 13 | FOX | 0.90 |
| 14 | National Geographic | 0.82 |
| 15 | BNT 3 | 0.75 |
| 16 | Diema Sport 3 | 0.70 |
| 17 | Nick Jr. Channel | 0.67 |
| 18 | Nickelodeon | 0.66 |
| 19 | Discovery Channel | 0.65 |
| 20 | Eurocom | 0.65 |
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^"Аналоговият ТВ сигнал спрян окончателно, 100 000 са без телевизия".Dnes.dir.bg.30 September 2013.
- ^A movie-style career: The pioneering role of Bulsatcom's Plamen Genchev in the era of satellite television,Capital (in Bulgarian)
- ^ITV Partner,LeoSat Ltd.'s website (in Bulgarian)
- ^https://uploads-ssl.webflow /61b1c1d463cf84df21620cc5/63d0eded410ba11a47a082b6_Nielsen%20Admosphere%20Bulletin%20December%202022.pdf[bare URL PDF]
External links[edit]
- History of television in Bulgaria
- Council for Electronic Media of Bulgaria
- Communications Regulation Commission of Bulgaria
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