Bulgarian National Television (BNT) is Bulgaria’s public broadcaster. It was founded in 1959 as the first television service available in the country. The station runs four channels: BNT 1 (a generalist channel), BNT 2 (focused on culture), BNT 3 (focused on sports) and BNT 4 (broadcasting internationally). BNT also runs four regional studios in Blagoevgrad , Varna, Plovdiv and Rousse.
Media assets
Television: BNT 1, BNT 2, BNT 3, BNT 4
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
BNT was established as a state corporation by the Radio and Television Act of 1998. The main governing structure at BNT is a management board whose five members including the General Director are appointed by the Council for Electronic Media (CEM), the media regulatory authority in Bulgaria. This appointment procedure prevents BNT from achieving real autonomy as the CEM Council’s five members are appointed by parliament (3) and Bulgarian President (2).
Source of funding and budget
BNT is funded through a combination of state subsidies and commercial revenue. The broadcaster has been struggling financially for a long time, the subsidy from the government being responsible for keeping the station afloat.
According to the budget plan, the station received in 2022 a total of BGN 80.5m (US$ 44m) from the government, which accounted for nearly the entire budget of the broadcaster. Local legislation states that BNT should be funded through a license fee paid by all homes in the country, but these provisions have never been implemented.
Editorial independence
As a public service broadcaster, BNT is tasked by law to deliver a broad range of news content and programming in line with its public service mission. The station, however, has failed to fulfil this mission, its editorial line being tightly under the control of the government.
Under the leadership of Emil Koshlukov, the current general director of BNT, the station’s editorial coverage turned overtly propagandistic in favor of the government. Koshlukov is a former MP and party leader. He used to manage a party-owned television channel known for its chauvinistic programming. He regularly intervenes (in person) in the station’s editorial reporting. During 2020 protests in Bulgaria, people blocked the BNT’s entrance, criticizing the station for its lack of objectivity in covering the protests.
In 2021, the station was slammed for its biased election coverage. The station received shortly after election an additional state budget allocation, which many perceived as compensation by the government for the station’s friendly election coverage.
The Radio and Television Act stipulates that the editorial control should be totally in the hands of the BNT’s staff; however, these provisions are meant solely to prevent advertisers from influencing the editorial coverage of the station. There is no domestic statute that generally establishes the independence of BNT.
BNT has an internal body called the Public Council, consisting of eight supposedly independent professionals whose task is to monitor the station’s programs and give feedback to the broadcaster’s management to improve its performance. Although this is an important oversight instrument, in practice, it doesn’t work, especially under the current management of the station, which discourages such feedback. On the council’s web page, only one feedback note from the Council, dating back to 2018, is available.
October 2023