Bulgarian National Television (BNT)
Bulgarian National Television (BNT) is Bulgaria’s public broadcaster. It was founded in 1959 as the country’s first available television service. The station operates 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 Ruse.
Media assets
Television: BNT 1, BNT 2, BNT 3, BNT 4
State Media Matrix Typology
Ownership and governance
BNT was established as a state corporation by the Radio and Television Act of 1998. Its main governing structure is a management board of five members—including the General Director—appointed by the Council for Electronic Media (CEM), Bulgaria’s media regulator. However, meaningful autonomy remains elusive because the CEM’s five members are themselves appointed by Parliament (three members) and the President (two members), reinforcing political influence over BNT.
Emil Koshlukov continues to serve as acting General Director, though his official three-year term has long expired. Repeated attempts to appoint a new head have failed. For instance, on July 15, 2025, the CEM held another election: Koshlukov received only one “for” vote, while other candidates fared no better, and no candidate secured the necessary majority. Under the Radio and Television Act, an acting director remains in place until a successor is formally elected. The European Commission also highlighted this stalemate as problematic in its 2025 report, noting that the election delay undermines independent governance and that the broadcaster remains in a state of ad interim leadership.
Source of funding and budget
BNT is funded through a mix of state subsidies and commercial revenues. In earlier years, government transfers composed the lion’s share of its budget (e.g., BGN 68 million in 2019, over 85 % of total budget; BGN 86.23 million in 2023) with little enforcement of the intended license fee collection system.
The State budget allocated BGN 86.9 million to BNT in 2024, according to a news report. For 2025, Parliament approved a higher allocation of BGN 93.6 million.
Editorial independence
Legally, BNT is tasked with a broad public-service mission, including diverse news, culture, education, and representation of all segments of society. The Radio and Television Act stipulates editorial independence, intending to shield programming from political and commercial influence.
However, BNR’s autonomy is weakened in practice, with political pressure and chronic underfunding continuing to limit its editorial independence. Under Emil Koshlukov’s tenure, editorial independence has been widely questioned. Scholars and critics cite increasingly government-aligned coverage and direct interference in editorial processes.
BNT does have an internal Public Council, comprising eight supposedly independent professionals, intended to monitor programming and offer feedback. Yet in practice, especially amid current management, this body has been largely ineffective; publicly available records show only one note from 2018.
September 2025