CEM Held Interviews with the First 3 Candidates for BNT Director General

On 21st of August, Bulgaria’s Council for Electronic Media (CEM) held interviews with the first 3 candidates for the post of Director General of the Bulgarian National Television.

The order of the interviews was based on the order in which the candidates filed the application documents.

The interviews were broadcast live on BNT2 channel.

Following the order of the interviews, Sasho Yovkov was the first candidate to present his concept on the development of the public broadcaster.

At the start of his presentation, Yovkov pointed out that his candidacy was well considered in advance and was not the result of a spontaneous decision. His decision to run as Director General of the Bulgarian National Television was taken five years ago, the main reason being his confidence in the audience. He promised to give loyalty to the Bulgarian National Television and its viewers, because during all these years in which he worked at BNT (since 1990) he was loyal to it. He promised more professionalism, responsibility and preservation of trust in the Bulgarian National Television.

As a main priority, which he called "2020", Yovkov noted that BNT should be a multi-channel and multimedia broadcaster. He said he was ready for a discussion on legislative changes regarding the Radio and Television Act and in relation to fake news on the internet, which influence the information flow and have negative impact on both the public and the Bulgarian Media.

Yovkov opted for preserving the Bulgarian culture and spreading it beyond the borders of the country. He placed a very important spot on the viewers because he thinks they are not passive, but active participants in the information flow. As regards viewers’ interest, he said that it could be strengthened through variety of BNT programmes.

He also touched on the topic of the insufficient funding of BNT and the topic of technological innovation.

According to Yovkov, BNT1 will be the main channel of the BNT programmes. BNT2 needs to be technologically upgraded to meet the expectations of viewers. In his concept, he envisages the creation of a third channel - BNT3, for sports, as well as BNT4 - for culture and education. The BNT HD, according to him, needs to be further developed in terms of content.

Yovkov promised continuity and to build upon the achievements of BNT Director General Vyara Ankova.

Valeriy Todorov, former director of the Bulgarian national radio has titled his concept "Television of the New Viewer". He believes that the future of television is in the diversity of content.

According to Todorov, BNT should retain its own image and not adapt to the model of commercial television stations. He proposes changes to avoid overlapping of activities in BNT, as well as setting up a unit for innovations within the Technical directorate.

Regarding the Bulgarian National Television's website, Todorov said that this could be a media within the media offering its own content, which will be accessible to all viewers or with special access.

His idea is that BNT HD channel be further developed as a sports channel. The main channel will remain BNT1. BNT2 should be developed as a cultural channel. With regard to the BNT World channel, according to Todorov, it is necessary to pay more attention to the Bulgarians abroad, so that their demands can be heard and show how they live.

His concept also envisages a children's channel "BNT Plus" and a project for an information and current affairs channel to be developed over time.

In terms of funding, Valeriy Todorov said he is supportive of public and transparent funding.

The third candidate interviewed by CEM on 21^st of August was Toma Ivanov. His concept is titled "BNT - An Alternative to Commercial TV Stations". Toma Ivanov, who is a former finance director of BNT and was Director General for a short period of time said he would rely on three main principles in his concept - continuity, teamwork and dialogue. According to him, people who currently do not watch TV at all should be attracted back as viewers.

He presented his extensive work experience mainly related to his work on different managerial positions at different levels in the Bulgarian National Television. Toma Ivanov stressed that during the years in which he worked at the Bulgarian National Television as finance director, it never had budget deficit.

According to Ivanov, BNT is now successfully fulfilling its service to provide news and the new director should aim to build upon what has been done so far. However, Ivanov thinks it is necessary to increase the trust in the Public Media.

He said he did not want drastic changes in the public broadcaster. In his words, no matter how small the BNT budget is, it makes the main difference between BNT and the rest of the TV stations as it gives BNT the editorial independence which makes it an alternative to the commercial TV stations.

Ivanov advocated maintaining the editorial principle. The priorities he presented include keeping the four main channels in place. His main goal is to set up a management team in the first month if elected as Director General.

By the end of his term, Ivanov promised no budget deficit, to raise BNT’s revenue by 25% and to double the audience.

The interviews with the other 3 candidates continue on 22 of August.