Television in Bulgaria
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Television in Bulgaria was introduced in 1959. Global players such as
News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Ne ...
,
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,
Central European Media Enterprises Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. (CME) is a media and entertainment company that operates television channels in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Until its acquisition by PPF Group N.V. in October 2020, ...
,
Fox Broadcasting Company The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...
and others operate the biggest and most popular media outlets in the country.


Terrestrial

In 1954, a team at the Machine and Electrotechnics Institute in Sofia (today called the
Technical University of Sofia The Technical University of Sofia ( bg, Технически университет - София) is Bulgaria's largest and foremost academic establishment for higher engineering education. The university is a state-owned entity with academic self- ...
) started experimental
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
broadcasting with two antennas (one for sound and one for image) on the roof of a building near the
Vasil Levski Vasil Levski ( bg, Васил Левски, spelled in old Bulgarian orthography as , ), born Vasil Ivanov Kunchev (; 18 July 1837 – 18 February 1873), was a Bulgarian revolutionary who is, today, a national hero of Bulgaria. Dubbed th ...
monument 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 November
manifestation Manifestation is the act of becoming manifest, to become perceptible to the senses. Manifestation may also refer to: * Manifestation of conscience, a practice in religious orders * Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith), the prophets of the Bah ...
, commemorating the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
of 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 the
OIRT The International Radio and Television Organisation (official name in French: Organisation Internationale de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision or OIRT (before 1960 International Broadcasting Organization (IBO), official name in French: ''Orga ...
standard 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 in
Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
countries. Public attention was quickly caught by the new medium, and the number of bought and registered television sets increased gradually. In 1960, a powerful 20
kilowatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...
transmitter was installed at
Botev Peak Botev Peak ( bg, (връх) Ботев ) is, at above sea level, the highest peak of the Balkan Mountains. It is located close to the geographic centre of Bulgaria, and is part of the Central Balkan National Park. Until 1950, when it was renam ...
, covering a large area of the country. Later, more transmitters and retranslators were placed in various cities, towns and villages around the country. Programming was controlled and influenced by the
Bulgarian Communist Party The Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP; bg, Българска Комунистическа Партия (БКП), Balgarska komunisticheska partiya (BKP)) was the founding and ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 198 ...
-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 mostly
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
productions, as well as some direct rebroadcasts of Soviet television programming. In 1972, the first color broadcast was made, again of a manifestation. The
SECAM SECAM, also written SÉCAM (, ''Séquentiel de couleur à mémoire'', French for ''color sequential with memory''), is an analog color television system that was used in France, some parts of Europe and Africa, and Russia. It was one of th ...
color system was used, because
PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
was used in most western countries (except for
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, 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, including
Pink Panther ''The Pink Panther'' is an American media franchise primarily focusing on a series of comedy-mystery films featuring an inept French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The franchise began with the release of the classic film ''The Pink ...
cartoons and the television series ''
La piovra ''La Piovra'' (; en, The Octopus, referring to the Mafia) is an Italian television drama series about the Mafia. The series was directed by various directors who each worked on different seasons, including Damiano Damiani (first season), Flores ...
'' (''Октопод'') and '' Escrava Isaura'' (''Робинята Изаура'').
Ivan Garelov Ivan Garelov ( bg, Иван Гарелов) (born 6 February 1943) is a popular Bulgarian journalist and television presenter. Biography Garelov is a graduate of Sofia University, where he studied journalism. Since 1972, he has been part of the ...
's ''Panorama'' and Kevork Kevorkyan's ''Vsyaka nedelya''
talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...
s/
news magazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or new ...
s were 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 of US films and TV series, one of the first being ''
The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighb ...
'' (''Семейство Флинтстоун''). Their names were also changed, BT 1 became Kanal 1 (Channel1) (Канал 1) and BT 2 became
Efir 2 BNT 2 () is a Bulgarian-language public television station, operated by the Bulgarian National Television. It is the successor to the defunct second program of the national television - Efir 2. Launched on October 16, 2011, the channel replace ...
. The television organisation's name was changed to
Bulgarian National Television The Bulgarian National Television ( Bulgarian: Българска национална телевизия, ''Balgarska natsionalna televizia'') or BNT (БНТ), stylized as ·Б·Н·Т· since 2018, is a public television broadcaster of Bulgaria ...
. In the 1990s, BNT changed the color television system to
PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
, while keeping compatibility with older TV sets by using the DK audio standard (on such sets, only
black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
picture is seen). Efir 2's frequencies were sold in 2000 to
News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Ne ...
for the country's first over-the-air national channel: bTV. In 2008, Channel 1 was again renamed to
BNT 1 BNT 1 () is a Bulgarian-language public television station founded in 1959. It began broadcasting on December 26 the same year. The headquarters are located in Sofia, Bulgaria. BNT 1 is run by the Bulgarian National Television. History When it ...
. The second programme started again in 2011 under the name
BNT 2 BNT 2 () is a Bulgarian-language public television station, operated by the Bulgarian National Television. It is the successor to the defunct second program of the national television - Efir 2. Launched on October 16, 2011, the channel replace ...
. It merged the regional
BNT The Bulgarian National Television (Bulgarian: Българска национална телевизия, ''Balgarska natsionalna televizia'') or BNT (БНТ), stylized as ·Б·Н·Т· since 2018, is a public television broadcaster of Bulgaria. ...
programmes. Privately owned television channels started to appear immediately after the regime change. Most were associated with a cable television (
CATV Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...
) 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 Television and 7 Dni TV (''7 дни'', meaning ''7 days'') were two of the first such channels, available only in
Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...
. After bTV took over
Efir 2 BNT 2 () is a Bulgarian-language public television station, operated by the Bulgarian National Television. It is the successor to the defunct second program of the national television - Efir 2. Launched on October 16, 2011, the channel replace ...
's frequencies, another competition selected Nova 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), until
DVB-T DVB-T, short for Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial, is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television that was first published in 1997 and first broadcast in Singapore in Febr ...
broadcasting is started.


Digital terrestrial television in Bulgaria

The
Bulgarian Telecommunications Company Vivacom ( bg, Виваком) is the largest telecommunications company in Bulgaria and a former state-owned incumbent operator. The company is headquartered in the capital city Sofia and employs around 5,900 people, owning a mature distribution ne ...
provided one experimental
DVB-T DVB-T, short for Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial, is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television that was first published in 1997 and first broadcast in Singapore in Febr ...
transponder 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 new integrated Digital TVs or
set-top box A set-top box (STB), also colloquially known as a cable box and historically television decoder, is an information appliance device that generally contains a TV-tuner input and displays output to a television set and an external source of sign ...
es. 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.


Cable

Cable television (
CATV Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...
) in
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
appeared 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 like
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
Europe, MTV European and
Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
became very popular, as more people subscribed to the (relatively cheap) cable TV operators. Many (if not all) cable companies created their own
television channel A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with ...
s, 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 using
Bulgarian Telecommunications Company Vivacom ( bg, Виваком) is the largest telecommunications company in Bulgaria and a former state-owned incumbent operator. The company is headquartered in the capital city Sofia and employs around 5,900 people, owning a mature distribution ne ...
cables as the distribution method. In 1998, M SAT (then known as Mustang Sat) became the first Bulgarian channel available via satellite. The local terrestrial channel Nova Television from Sofia became available all over the country in 1999 using cable transmission. Around 2000–2001, some foreign broadcasters such as
Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
and the
Hallmark Channel The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies and ...
(now
DIVA Universal Diva, formerly Diva Universal, is a woman-based entertainment channel owned by Universal Networks International. The list of Diva channels includes: * Diva (Asia TV channel) ''defunct'' *Diva Universal (Philippines) ''defunct'' * Diva (Finland) ' ...
started Bulgarian translations of their channels using
DVB Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) is a set of international open standards for digital television. DVB standards are maintained by the DVB Project, an international industry consortium, and are published by a Joint Technical Committee (JTC) o ...
subtitles Subtitles and captions are lines of dialogue or other text displayed at the bottom of the screen in films, television programs, video games or other visual media. They can be transcriptions of the screenplay, translations of it, or informati ...
. 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 like
AXN AXN is a pay television channel owned by Sony Pictures Television, which was first launched in September 1997 in Asia. Local versions have since been launched in several parts of the world, including Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Funded th ...
and
Jetix Jetix (stylized as JETIX) was a children's entertainment brand owned by The Walt Disney Company. The brand was for a slate of action/adventure-related programming blocks and television channels. Jetix programming mainly originated from the S ...
(formerly
Fox Kids Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized as FOX KIDS) was an American children's block programming, programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channel ...
) (now
Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...
) 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 provide
DVB-C Digital Video Broadcasting - Cable (DVB-C) is the DVB European consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital television over cable. This system transmits an MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 family digital audio/digital video stream, using a QAM ...
channels in the major cities and towns. As of 2009, analogue channels are usually the only service available in villages.


Satellite

Satellite channels from Bulgaria appeared prior to the existence of a DTH operator. The first channel to start broadcasting via satellite was
MSAT MSAT, short for ''Mobile Satellite'', is a satellite-based mobile telephony service developed by the National Research Council of Canada. Supported by a number of companies in the US and Canada, MSAT hosts a number of services, including the broad ...
(then known as ''
Mustang The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticated animals, they ...
Sat'', after parent company Mustang) in 1998, operating from
Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...
. Before this, the Mustang channel was distributed through cable lines, maintained by the
Bulgarian Telecommunications Company Vivacom ( bg, Виваком) is the largest telecommunications company in Bulgaria and a former state-owned incumbent operator. The company is headquartered in the capital city Sofia and employs around 5,900 people, owning a mature distribution ne ...
. The following year, the
Bulgarian National Television The Bulgarian National Television ( Bulgarian: Българска национална телевизия, ''Balgarska natsionalna televizia'') or BNT (БНТ), stylized as ·Б·Н·Т· since 2018, is a public television broadcaster of Bulgaria ...
launched a special channel, TV Bulgaria (now known as
BNT World BNT 4 (, previously BNT World and BNT Sat), is Bulgarian language, a Bulgarian-language Public television, public international television channel owned and operated by the Bulgarian National Television. History The first broadcast of the progra ...
), 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 on
Hellas Sat 2 Hellas Sat 2 (previously called as Intelsat K-TV, NSS K-TV, NSS 6, Intelsat APR3, and Sinosat 1B) is a communications satellite operated by Hellas Sat. On 29 June 2017, the Hellas Sat 3 satellite was launched to replace the Hellas Sat 2. Launc ...
. The next year, ITV Partner (now
Satellite BG A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...
) was launched as a DTH service by ''Interactive Technologies PLC'', broadcasting on
Eutelsat W2 Eutelsat S.A. is a French satellite operator. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, it is the world's third-largest satellite operator in terms of revenues. Eutelsat's satellit ...
. Both supply
DVB-S Digital Video Broadcasting – Satellite (DVB-S) is the original DVB standard for Satellite Television and dates from 1995, in its first release, while development lasted from 1993 to 1997. The first commercial applications was by Star TV in Asia ...
satellite television in
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
and most
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an countries, 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's
Vivacom Vivacom ( bg, Виваком) is the largest telecommunications company in Bulgaria and a former state-owned incumbent operator. The company is headquartered in the capital city Sofia and employs around 5,900 people, owning a mature distribution ne ...
. There is also a small package operated by
Telenor Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwide, ...
on Thor 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


Terrestrial (free-to-air channels with national coverage)

*
BNT 1 BNT 1 () is a Bulgarian-language public television station founded in 1959. It began broadcasting on December 26 the same year. The headquarters are located in Sofia, Bulgaria. BNT 1 is run by the Bulgarian National Television. History When it ...
, state-owned TV network *
BNT 2 BNT 2 () is a Bulgarian-language public television station, operated by the Bulgarian National Television. It is the successor to the defunct second program of the national television - Efir 2. Launched on October 16, 2011, the channel replace ...
; state-owned TV network *
BNT 3 BNT 3 (, previously BNT HD) is a Bulgarian-language public television station, operated by the Bulgarian National Television. It broadcasts sport events, movies and cultural programs. History It was launched on February 6, 2014 as "BNT HD", wit ...
, state-owned TV network * Nova Television, TV network, used former analogue frequencies of
Soviet television Television in the Soviet Union was owned, controlled and censored by the state. The body governing television in the era of the Soviet Union was the Gosteleradio committee, which was responsible for both the Soviet Central Television and the All ...
networks TV Ostankino and ORT * bTV; TV network, used former analogue frequencies of
BNT The Bulgarian National Television (Bulgarian: Българска национална телевизия, ''Balgarska natsionalna televizia'') or BNT (БНТ), stylized as ·Б·Н·Т· since 2018, is a public television broadcaster of Bulgaria. ...
's defunct second channel
Efir 2 BNT 2 () is a Bulgarian-language public television station, operated by the Bulgarian National Television. It is the successor to the defunct second program of the national television - Efir 2. Launched on October 16, 2011, the channel replace ...
* Bulgaria ON AIR, part of the Investor.BG group of channels


Pay television

* Bloomberg TV Bulgaria *
TV+ Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...
* TVart * ( bg, Военен телевизионен канал, ВТК) (operated by the Bulgarian military) *
Balkanika TV Balkanika TV or Balkanika Music Television is a Bulgarian music television, broadcasting popular music and contemporary hits from all Balkan countries The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in sout ...
*
City TV Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television As ...
* E-Kids * Code Health TV * Code Fashion TV * VTV * Box TV * Fan TV * Folklor TV * F+ *
Film+ A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
*
Sport+ Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, t ...
* HD+ * Hobby TV * BG TOP Music *
Vivacom Arena Vivacom ( bg, Виваком) is the largest telecommunications company in Bulgaria and a former state-owned incumbent operator. The company is headquartered in the capital city Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and ...
*
Planeta TV Planeta TV is a Bulgarian music television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmissi ...
*
Planeta Folk Planeta TV is a Bulgarian music television channel, which launched on 13 November 2001. It is owned by the company "Payner Media" Ltd., which also owns the sister channels Planeta Folk and Planeta HD. The channel is the highest rating among mus ...
* Planet Fun * Rodina TV * SKAT * Travel HD *
The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...
*
Travel TV Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...
* Community TV * Euronews Bulgaria (Formerly TV Europa) *
7/8 TV 7/8 TV ( bg, 7/8 ТВ, Седем-осми ТВ) is a Bulgarian private cable television, owned and operated, by the political party There Is Such a People. It was founded in 2019 in Sofia. The television is successor of Television Stara Zagora ...


Foreign channels translated into Bulgarian

''Channels marked with an asterisk (*) have a Bulgarian audio channel, all others have Bulgarian
subtitles Subtitles and captions are lines of dialogue or other text displayed at the bottom of the screen in films, television programs, video games or other visual media. They can be transcriptions of the screenplay, translations of it, or informati ...
only'' ''Channels marked with an plus (+) are broadcasting in HD'' *
Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily dev ...
+ *
FOX Crime Fox Crime (stylized as FOXCRIME) is a television network, launched by the Fox Networks Group, which airs across several countries of Europe, Africa and Asia such as Italy, Portugal, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Its basic programming include numero ...
*+ *
FOX Life Fox Life is an international pay television network, launched by the Fox Networks Group in 2004. The network has been discontinued in several markets over time, except for the Middle East, Bulgaria, Portugal, the Balkans, India and Greece. The ...
*+ *
FOX Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
*+ *
AXN AXN is a pay television channel owned by Sony Pictures Television, which was first launched in September 1997 in Asia. Local versions have since been launched in several parts of the world, including Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Funded th ...
* *
AXN Black AXN Black is a television channel, channel operated by Sony Pictures Television International, Sony Pictures Television International Networks Europe. Its programming is basically focused on action and crime television series and movies. The chan ...
* * AXN White* *
Cinemax Cinemax is an American pay television, cable, and satellite television network owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Developed as a companion "maxi-pay" service complementing the offerings shown on parent net ...
*+ *
Cinemax 2 Cinemax is an American pay television, cable, and satellite television network owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Developed as a companion "maxi-pay" service complementing the offerings shown on parent net ...
*+ *
Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
*+ *
Discovery Science Discovery science (also known as discovery-based science) is a scientific methodology which aims to find new patterns, correlations, and form hypotheses through the analysis of large-scale experimental data. The term “discovery science” enco ...
+ *
Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Ameri ...
*+ *
TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...
* *
Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, its international sports unit, it operates two ...
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Eurosport 2 Eurosport 2 is a French sports television network. It is a sister channel to Eurosport 1, which is a division of the Eurosport Network and a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. Several different versions of the channel exist across Europe, where te ...
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HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
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HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
2 (ex HBO Comedy)*+ *
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
3 *+ *
National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...
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National Geographic Wild National Geographic Wild (shortened as Nat Geo Wild and abbreviated NGW) is a global pay television network owned by National Geographic Partners, a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (73%) and the National Geographic Society (27%). T ...
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Travel Channel (UK) Travel Channel International (stylized as Trvl Channel in Asia and Australia since 2021) is a commercial television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and broadcasting travel-themed programmes in the EMEA regions and Asia Pacific, spanning ...
*+ * TV1000+ *
Viasat Nature Viasat Nature is a television channel owned by international media company, Viasat World LTD. The channel has a focus on animals and their owners, blue-chip, classic wildlife, ER and animal rescue, the natural world, and parks and sanctuaries. ...
+ (as Viasat History/Nature HD) *
Viasat History Viasat History is a pay television channel owned by the Swedish media company, Viasat World, Viasat World LTD. The channel broadcasts history series from around the world with a focus on the ancient world, historical drama, royal history, travel ...
+ (as Viasat History/Nature HD) *
Viasat Explorer Viasat Explore is a television channel owned by international media company, Viasat World LTD. The channel focuses on fishing, adventure, men at work and engineering. Viasat Explore is a 24-hour channel broadcasting in Central and Eastern Euro ...
* *
Fine Living Network Fine Living (Sometimes called Fine Living Network or FLN) was a European television channel, initially owned and operated by Scripps Networks Interactive and later by Discovery Inc., from 2018 onwards. It broadcast from to . It featured document ...
*
CBS Reality CBS Reality is a European television channel broadcast in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. History CBS Reality was launched as Reality TV on 1 December 1999 as a joint-venture between UPCtv and Zone Vision. In 2005, Liberty Global, owner of ...
*
Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...
*+ (its broadcasting in HD only as on demand) *
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
*+ (its broadcasting in HD only as on demand) * Nickelodeon*+ (its broadcasting in HD only as on demand) *
Nicktoons Nicktoons is a collective name used by Nickelodeon for their original animated series. All Nicktoons are produced partly at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio and list Nickelodeon's parent company (Viacom, now known as Paramount Global) in their ...
*+ (its broadcasting in HD only as on demand) *
Nick Jr. Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...
*+ (its broadcasting in HD only as on demand)


Most viewed channels

Source: Nielsen Admosphere Bulgaria, December 2022 https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/61b1c1d463cf84df21620cc5/63d0eded410ba11a47a082b6_Nielsen%20Admosphere%20Bulletin%20December%202022.pdf


See also

* List of Bulgarian television shows


References


External links


History of television in Bulgaria

Council for Electronic Media of Bulgaria

Communications Regulation Commission of Bulgaria
{{DEFAULTSORT:Television In Bulgaria 1959 establishments in Bulgaria
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
Television stations A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...