Inhabitants: 6.93 million (2020)
Households: 2.93 million (2021)
Average household size: 2,3 (2021); 2,7 (2013)
Religion: Orthodox: 59.4%, Muslim: 7.8%, Protestant: 0.9%, Roman Catholic: 0.7%, none 9.3% (2011 Census)06.03.2022 — Hi,. Is it possible that only for a certain category the posts in it to be displayed/sorted (archive list) by some criteria – alphabetically by post …
Big cities: Sofia (1.22 million), Plovdiv (342,000), Varna (332,000) (2021)
Form of government: parliamentary democracy
Head of State: President Rumen Radev (since 2017)
Head of the government: Prime Minister Galab Donev (Interim, since August 2022)
EU-member since: 2007
Unemployment rate: 5,3% (2021); 11,1% (2014)
National debt as a percentage of GDP: 2019: 20,4%; 2013: 18,9%, 2009: 14,6%, 2007: 12,8%
Budget balance in relation to GDP: 2021: -3%; 2014: -1.73%, 2009: -0.92%, 2007: 3.26% (IMF)
Share of global GDP: 0,12% (2021); 0,12% (2013)

Advertisement costs total: 2015: 620 million US $; 2012: 684 million US $
Daily television viewing time per inhabitant: 2021: 213 minutes (statista); 2014: 221 minutes (GfK, AGF, Media Control)
Large media and communication companies: BNT, BNR, BTA, BTV, NBMG, Economedia AD, Vivacom, Orbitel, Mobiltel, Telenor Bulgaria
Monthly public broadcasting fee: None, public broadcasters are funded by taxes.

Historical Foundations

Ottoman rule over Bulgaria from 1371 to 1878 prevented the early development of press publications and a distinct Bulgarian media landscape. Freedom of speech and conscience were already enshrined in the first democratic constitution of 1879, which allowed a media market to establish itself, following the example of other European countries. Despite the legally enshrined freedom of the press, it was subject to state censorship. In 1898, Bulgaria's first news agency was established. BTA (Bulgaria Telegrafna Agenza) was founded, which is still considered one of the country's most reputable sources of information. The first edition of the oldest Bulgarian regional newspaper still in publication, Chernomorski Far, appeared in 1920.

On April 19, 1934, Bulgarian democracy was shaken when the "Zveno" alliance staged a military coup, imposing an autocratic regime with Tsar Boris III as monarch. The press and radio were nationalized, and strict censorship was introduced. Under the two communist constitutions of 1947 and 1971, the media market was subject to tight control by the Bulgarian Communist Party (BKP) and was bound by Marxist-Leninist ideology. Both the press and state radio and television were subordinate to the communist Central Committee.

As in many other Southeast European countries, the fall of the communist regime in 1989 saw a diverse flourishing of the media landscape in Bulgaria. Democratic institutions were established, and state radio and television were placed under the control of the Council of Ministers. Freedom of expression, freedom of the media, and freedom of information were firmly enshrined in the first post-communist constitution of 1991, allowing numerous private radio and television stations, as well as independent daily and weekly newspapers, to establish themselves alongside the public broadcasters. The first opposition daily newspaper, Demokracia, was published as late as December 1990. On November 25, 2004, a code of ethics was adopted as part of the PHARE program, to which numerous Bulgarian media outlets voluntarily adhere.

Nevertheless, Bulgaria still ranks far below the EU average in international press freedom rankings. This is due partly to the country's relatively weak economy and the resulting dependence on domestic and foreign investors, but also to the sometimes authoritarian mentality of the politicians in power, who repeatedly pressure journalists through lawsuits and cease-and-desist letters. As a result, an increasingly large portion of the population is turning to alternative sources of information such as web portals and internet blogs, whose importance has grown significantly in recent years.

Newspaper

To this day, Bulgaria does not have its own press law, so after the fall of the communist regime in 1989, a large number of new daily and weekly newspapers appeared, although only a small proportion managed to establish themselves on the market. Newspaper publication is unregulated, and statistical data collection is limited. In 2007, the number of print media titles printed in Bulgaria was estimated at 900, but the trend across the entire newspaper segment is declining. Attempts to establish a quality press in Bulgaria have failed. In fact, the Bulgarian newspaper market has become increasingly confusing in recent years, due not only to the lack of press law, but also, to a large extent, to the growing involvement of private investors, who often fight not only for market share but also for political influence. This is one of the reasons why Bulgaria's newspaper market and the press landscape as a whole lag far behind EU standards.

One of Bulgaria's most reputable newspapers is Dnevnik, founded in 2001. It is a daily focused on business news with a strong online presence and, according to its own statements, primarily targets young, educated, and career-minded people. Published alongside Dnevnik is Kapital, a weekly publication characterized by well-researched and comprehensive, sometimes investigative, background reports on primarily economic topics. Also owned by Economedia AD, Banker, distributed by Banker BG OOD, covers similar topics to Kapital. Although it has a significantly smaller reach than Kapital, it has established a loyal readership through its target-group-oriented journalism.

The daily newspapers 24 Chasa and Dneven Trud are typical examples of so-called hybrid newspapers, which, while they consider themselves to be quality newspapers, also exhibit many characteristics of the tabloid press. Standart, another important daily newspaper now published by Standart News AG, is also a hybrid of quality and tabloid.
Another characteristic of Bulgaria's largest newspapers is their presence in both the print and online newspaper markets. Their establishment in the online market began in the 2010s, as Bulgaria, like many other European countries, faced a rapid decline in print newspaper readership. Through their online counterparts, the newspapers managed to retain many of their subscribers.

But the 2008 financial crisis also left its mark on the Bulgarian print market – very few newspapers were able to cover their expenses through sales and advertising revenue and were dependent on state subsidies and, increasingly, international investors. A situation that hasn't changed in the years since.
The German WAZ Media Group (now Funke Media Group) was the first foreign investor in the Bulgarian newspaper market and held a dominant position until 2010. In 1997, it acquired Bulgaria's first private press group, 168 Chasa Ltd., and distributed the country's two daily newspapers, Trud (Work) and 24 Chasa (24 Hours), which were long the largest-circulation newspapers in the country, as well as the weekly 168 Chasa. As recently as 2009, the circulation of Trud was estimated at 130,000, that of 24 Chasa at 100,000, and their combined market share at approximately 55%. The two newspapers thus had a circulation of 230,000 in 2010, whereas Trud alone had a circulation of 300,000 in 2001. Due to these dramatically declining sales figures, the WAZ Media Group sold all of its shares in the Bulgarian market to foreign investors and local tycoons in 2010. Nosten Trud, the only Bulgarian evening newspaper, also owned by 168 Chasa Ltd., was discontinued in 2009. 24 Chasa is now distributed by the Bulgarian-Austrian consortium 168 Chasa EOOD, and Trud by Media Holding AG.

Table I: The largest newspapers in Bulgaria 2020

Newspaper	estimated circulation	Focus	format	editor
24 Chasa	100,000 – 200,000	Boulevard, News	Print and online	BG Printmedia Ltd.
Trud	100,000 – 200,000	Boulevard, News	Print and online	Trud Media Ltd.
telegraph	50,000 – 100,000	boulevard	print	New Bulgarian Media Group Holding
Standard	25,000 – 50,000	Boulevard, News	Print and online	Standard News AG
Dnevink	10,000 – 25,000	Business and Finance	Print and online	Economedia AD
Capital (w)	10,000 – 25,000	Business and Finance	Print and online	Economedia AD
Kesh (f)	10,000 – 25,000	Business and Finance	Print and online	Kesh Club 300 AD
monitor	10,000 – 25,000	boulevard	Print and online	United Group
Novinar	10,000 – 25,000	General News	Print and online	BSS Media Group
Banker (f)	< 10,000	Business and Finance	Print and online	Banker BG OOD

 Notes: Data from 4imn.com, w = newspaper published weekly, the other newspapers daily.Form start

radio

The first radio broadcast in Bulgaria was made on September 25, 1921, by the "Nauen" station. However, it took several more years for radio to establish itself as a medium in Bulgaria. In 1935, it was instrumentalized by Tsar Boris III and broadcast as a monopolistic national radio station. This state radio monopoly lasted until the fall of the communist regime in 1989. In contrast to the print media, radio is more closely regulated by the Radio Law of 1998, thus bringing it into line with international standards. Following an amendment to the law in 2000, the Council for Electronic Media was established in 2001, replacing the National Radio and Television Council as the regulatory body. The council's nine members are elected by parliament, partly by majority vote, and four of them are appointed by the president. The Council for Electronic Media, in turn, appoints the directors of the public broadcasters, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) and Bulgarian National Television (BNT), and also has the authority to grant licenses. In addition to public broadcasting, numerous private radio stations occupy an important position in the Bulgarian radio market.

Public radio
The public BNR was founded on 23 January 1935 by Tsar Boris III with the nationalization of the People's Radio, which had existed since 1930, and today has two radio stations in Bulgarian, horizon and Hristo Botev as well as the international Radio Bulgaria, which broadcasts in Bulgarian, Russian, English, German, French, Spanish, Serbian, Greek, Albanian, Turkish, and Arabic. While Horizont specializes in news programs, Hristo Botev primarily broadcasts on cultural, political, and ethnic minority topics. Hristo Botev also has his own radio theater and offers foreign language courses and educational programs; operas and concerts are also part of the repertoire. The BNR remains a major player in the Bulgarian radio market and enjoys a high level of trust among the population, but is facing increasing competition from private radio stations.

Private radio
The first licenses for private radio stations were awarded in 1992 to the foreign broadcasters The Voice of America, BBC World Service, Free Europe, France International, and Deutsche Welle, partly to support the democratization process in Bulgaria. The first private domestic radio station, FM+, went on air on October 23, 1992, followed in 1993 by the popular private station Darik Radio, which has a national license. The majority of private radio stations are owned by large international corporations. BG Radio, Radio 1, Radio 1 Rock, Radio ENERGY, Radio City, Radio Veronika and Radio Nova belong to the Irish Communicorp Group Ltd., which entered the Bulgarian market in 2004 and is owned by Irish billionaire Denis O'Brien. The SBS Broadcasting Group was part of ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG since 2007 and distributed several music stations such as The Voice and Radio Vitosha until 2011, but sold all shares to Best Success Services Bulgaria EOOD. This group also owns the radio station with the most listeners in the private segment, Radio Vaselina. The national radio chain Inforadio, FM+, and Radio Fresh have been owned by the US group Emmis Communications Corporation since 2007. One of the largest broadcasting groups on the Bulgarian media market is the bTV Media Group, with total annual revenues of USD 145 million, although only a small share of this comes from the radio market. It belongs to 94% of Central European Media Enterprises and operates the music-focused radio stations bTV Radio, Z-Rock, NJoy, Classic FM, Jazz FM and Melody Radio.

Since March 11, 2008, licenses for analogue stations have increasingly been withdrawn in order to gradually digitalize broadcasting. This transition was made on the recommendation of the European Union and involved considerable costs for radio stations. As a result, many, especially smaller, regional stations, had to cease operations, resulting in upheavals in the Bulgarian radio market. Over the years, there have been several shifts in the reach of radio stations. Today, the private stations Radio Vaselina and Radio 1, as well as the public broadcaster Horizont, which was the market leader for a long time, dominate the Bulgarian radio market.

Fig. I: Top 20 radio stations in Bulgaria 2017 (by reach)

Source: Media Club Strategic Insights 2017

Television

Bulgarian television began on December 26, 1959, when the first broadcast was broadcast on the occasion of the anniversary of the October Revolution in the then still subordinate to the Central Committee Bulgarian National Television (BNT) was broadcast. Since 1970 it has also broadcast in color and after the political upheaval in 1989 was able to establish itself as a public broadcaster alongside numerous private ones. Just like radio, television has been regulated by its own television law since 1998. The spread of cable television developed very quickly; in 2009 over 70 percent of all households had a cable connection, to which programs are broadcast by over 200 national, regional and local operators. The public television stations are financed predominantly from the state budget, which means that politics exerts a strong influence on the program structure and hardly any critical contributions are broadcast. For example, in 2002 the two political programs "Frontalno" and "Ekip 4" were removed from the BNT schedule and replaced by the government-compliant program "Aktualno".

public television
The BNT today consists of four channels, BNT 1, BNT 2, BNT 3 and BNT 4While BNT 1 (general news) and BNT 4 (world news) primarily focus on politics, BNT 2 also broadcasts cultural programs. However, the Bulgarian National Television channels are often criticized for not being objective, but for being subject to constant political influence. BNT 4 was founded in 2014 and is limited to broadcasting sports programs. The public channel Efir 2, founded in 1974 and formerly known as the Second Channel, was shut down in 1998. It was replaced by private channel bTVThe BNT has six regional broadcasting centers, one each in Blagoevgrad, Varna, Plovdiv, Sofia, Stara Zagora, and Ruse.

Private television
Bulgaria's largest private television station, bTV, began broadcasting in 2000 and is now the leader in the Bulgarian television market. It is part of the bTV Media Group, which in turn was almost completely replaced by the Central European Media Enterprises was purchased. bTV broadcasts 24 hours a day nationally via terrestrial television in Bulgaria and can also be received via satellite abroad. The program range is broad, but the focus is on mass-market entertainment formats such as series, talk shows, music, and quiz shows. bTV also operates various specialty channels, such as bTV Action and bTV Comedy. In addition to BNT and bTV, Nova TV Another major nationally broadcast television station and has a similar programming to bTV. It broadcasts popular entertainment formats such as "Big Brother," "Star Academy," and "Deal or No Deal," as well as the series "House," "Lost," "Sex and the City," and "CSI." It was founded in 1994 and is part of Nova Broadcasting Group, which has been part of the umbrella organization United Group is subject to. The 7 Media Group belongs to the Alegro Capital Ltd. and operates the entertainment channel TV7 as well as the sister channels News7, Sport7 and Super7A striking feature of the Bulgarian television landscape is the high density of music channels such as MM, The Voice (offshoot of the radio station of the same name) or Balkanika Music TVThe so-called "chalga," a highly modernized folk music with various influences from pop, Balkan, and electronic music, is a special phenomenon, particularly popular among young Bulgarians and frequently criticized by intellectual circles. The news channel TV Europe has been broadcasting since 2001 and cooperates with Reuters and Deutsche Welle, among others.

Fig. II: Top 10 most-watched TV channels in Bulgaria 2020

Source: Dnes.dir.bg

Internet

Over the course of the 2000s and 2010s, the internet has steadily gained influence in Bulgaria, partly because it is now considered the country's most politically and economically independent source of information. In addition to the established platforms of the international media groups Alphabet Inc. and Meta Platforms, Inc., the most popular websites in Bulgaria include national news portals such as the online format of the daily newspaper 24 Chasa, which belongs to the Bulgarian media company Nova Broadcasting Group (NBG). NBG's website is also among the most visited websites in Bulgaria. In addition to general news, it also offers a streaming service of its own TV program.

Internet penetration in private households in Bulgaria developed relatively late compared to other European countries, but rapidly. In 2006, only 28.5% of Bulgarians used the World Wide Web; by December 2013, this figure had risen to 53.1%, primarily due to improved infrastructure and the spread of broadband internet. By 2020, the proportion of internet users in Bulgaria had further increased to 70.2%. Nevertheless, the proportion of internet users remains below the EU average and differs significantly between age groups.

Consuming news online is highly valued by the Bulgarian population. Consequently, most Bulgarian newspapers have their own online presence. It is striking, however, that access to articles from many tabloids is restricted or relies on subscription models, while articles from the quality press are mostly freely available. Although the internet is considered the freest medium in the world, both business and politics in Bulgaria regularly attempt to exert pressure on the respective website operators or even bloggers. Warnings for authors of texts that do not conform to government regulations are not uncommon.

Table II: The most visited websites in Bulgaria in 2022

Rank	Webpage:	Description	Parent company
1.	Google.com	Search engine	Alphabet Inc.
2.	YouTube.com	Video portal	Alphabet Inc.
3.	Facebook.com	Social network	Meta Platforms, Inc.
4.	Abv.bg	Webmail	Nova Broadcasting Group
5.	Google.bg	Search engine	Alphabet Inc.
6.	24chasa.bg	News	Media Group Bulgaria
7.	Nova.bg	Television	Nova Broadcasting Group
8.	Wikipedia.org	Encyclopedia	Wikimedia Foundation
9.	Instagram.com	Social network	Meta Platforms, Inc.
10.	Dnes.bg	News	Investor BG AD

Source: Similarweb.com

Regulations

In Bulgaria, media freedom has traditionally been restricted by gray areas, and journalists are often under intense pressure. Public broadcasters are frequently accused of being politically influenced. This makes it significantly more difficult for the Bulgarian population to consume completely independent news. Many Bulgarians therefore rely on the international press for their information online. To date, Bulgaria has no independent press law, and the print market, like in some other Eastern European countries, is almost entirely unregulated. Nevertheless, some laws regulating electronic media can also be applied to the print market.

In 1998, under pressure from the European Union, such a law regulating electronic media was passed. Although it has been revised several times, its basic principles remain in effect to this day. The Council for Electronic Media, consisting of nine members, monitors compliance with regulations on advertising, donations, copyright, and the protection of minors and children, but has frequently come under criticism in recent years. In addition to allegations of corruption, the programmatic sovereignty of individual broadcasters has been called into question. In 2014, a law was passed in an expedited procedure that allowed for investigations and fines against journalists who published reports on malpractice in the financial industry.

According to Reporters Without Borders, Bulgaria ranks 91st in the internationally recognized press freedom rankings, behind Hungary (85th), which is often heavily criticized in the European press. After Bulgaria's consistent decline in the press freedom rankings, from 35th place to 106th between 2006 and 2015, the country has stagnated at a low level for several years. This development remains highly problematic, as press freedom is one of the most important indicators of the state of a democracy.

Only one in six Bulgarians believes that the press in their own country is independent. Reality reinforces this perception. Many media outlets in the country determine their editorial policy in close consultation with leading politicians. Furthermore, a large portion of the media in Bulgaria is owned by a few entrepreneurs, some of whom use interwoven business models and intermediaries to create confusion about the actual ownership of the respective media outlets.

One of these big names in today's Bulgarian media landscape is Irena Krasteva. In 2007, she founded the New Bulgarian Media Group Holding (NBMG) together with her son, Deljan Peewski. Today, the group owns a majority of the newspapers, some radio stations, and television channels. Deljan Peewski heads the company and is responsible for both editorial direction and human resources.

Since the end of the 1990s, many international corporations have also exerted a great influence on the Bulgarian media market. WAZ Media Group (now Funke Media Group) was the first foreign investor in the newspaper market in 1997. The Swedish media group Modern Times Group (MTG), exerted a great influence on private television through several Bulgarian television channels. Collectively, the MTG channels were under the Nova Broadcasting GroupIn April 2019, MTG finally sold its 95 percent stake in the Bulgarian Nova Broadcasting Group (NBG) to the Bulgarian Advance Media GroupSince January 2021, NBG has been part of the Dutch United Group, a telecommunications and media service provider in Southeast Europe. These international corporations are thus partly attempting to create more independent information channels, but are also primarily pursuing profit-oriented interests.

Sources/Literature

Antonova, Vesislava/Georgiev, Andrian: Mapping Digital Media: Bulgaria. London (2013)

Christova, Christiana / Förger, Dirk: "On the Situation of the Media in Bulgaria with Regard to Their Contribution to Civil Society." In: Wahlers, Gerhard (ed.): KAS Foreign Information, Issue 03/2008, Sankt Augustin (2008)

Kempf, Simon: Digital 2021: Bulgaria. Vancouver (2021).

Media Club: Media Landscape Bulgaria 2017. Sofia (2017)

Martino, Francesco: Bulgaria: the media, law, and freedom of information. Sophia (2022)

Raycheva, Lilia/Leandros, Nikos: Media Trends and Concentration of Capital in two Balkan Countries: Greece And Bulgaria, Budapest (2011)

Raycheva, Lilia: "The Challenges of Digitalization to the Bulgarian Public Service Media." In: Mitschka, Konrad (Editor-in-Chief): Public Value Report 2013/14 – Texts, Vienna (2014). pp. 11–18.

Štetka Václav, Bulgaria: A country report for the ERC-funded on Media and Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe (2011)

Stegherr, Marc/Liesem Kerstin: "The Media System in Bulgaria." In: The Media in Eastern Europe: Media Systems in the Transformation Process. Wiesbaden (2010). pp. 144-155.

Tabakova, Wesela: Media Landscapes: Bulgaria (2012)

Vassileva, Dessislava: Broadcasting and Broadcasting Policy in Bulgaria. Munich (20