National Co-ordinator:

BULGARIAN NATIONAL TELEVISION
Mrs. Maria Ilieva
tel: +359 2 963 39 60
fax: +359 2 943 60 34
e-mail: maria_ilieva@bnt.bg

Member Organisation: Bulgarian National Television - BNT
Tel. + 359 2/ 963 30 95
Fax + 359 2/ 963 40 45
http://www.bnt.bg/

Bulgarian National Television - BNT - is operating since 1959. Presently it is under the direct supervision of the National Council for Radio and Television, established in January 1998. The Media Law passed by the Bulgarian Parliament in 1996 has been practically suspended, being implemented only partly and a new version is being considered.

BNT functions under the top management of the Director General, elected by the National Council for Radio and Television. The Director General appoints the Executive Director, the Programme Director, the Chief Secretary, the Technical Director, the Director of Finance and the Directors for Marketing and International Relations.

BNT is financed through the state budget, advertising and sponsorship. The advertising income contributes approximately 20% of the budget of the company.

There are approximately 8,5 million inhabitants in the Republic of Bulgaria. 96% of the population disposes of TV sets: appr.80% - colour sets, 30% with remote control.

Presently BNT operates 2 national channels - Channel 1 and Channel 2. Both channels produce general programmes. Channel 1 covers about 92% of the country and broadcasts about 96 hours per week, Channel 2 covers about 86% of the country and broadcasts about 60 hours per week.

Altogether BNT broadcasts about 8200 hours per year. National programmes account for about 60% and 40% of programming is imported. All programmes are broadcast in the Bulgarian language.

BNT incorporates 4 regional stations: in Plovdiv / for the south-eastern part of the country /, in Varna / north-eastern part of the country/, Rousse / north-western Bolgaria/ and Blagoevgrad / south-west /. The regional centres provide news and programme materials for both national channels. They also broadcast daily their own regional programmes - about one hour a day.

Uliana Pramova - Director general
Tel. 359 2 / 44 63 22,
fax 359 2 / 946 16 13
Radomir Cholakov - Chief Legal Adviser, Interim Gen. Secretary
Tel. 943 42 48
Vlado Daverov - Interim Progr. Director
Tel. 46 33 08
Toma Ivanov - Director of Finance
Tel 74 61 44,
fax 74 41 11
Ivan Pavlov - Marketing director
Tel. 44 63 29,
fax 946 12 10
Valentin Stoianov - Director Int. Relations
Tel. 963 39 60
tel/fax 946 10 34
fax 946 40 45