I voted against to know a sign that the big problem is the already expired mandate of the general director, said Simona Veleva from the council
With 2 votes “for” and 2 votes “against” the Council for Electronic Media concluded the hearing of the report of the general director of BNT Emil Koshlukov on the work of the public television from June to December 2023.
Thus, although in general the CEM remained satisfied with the activity of the BNT, the director’s report was neither accepted nor rejected, after Sonia Momchilova and Galina Georgieva supported it, and Simona Veleva and Gabriela Naplatanova did not. Its fifth member, Prolet Velkova, was absent from the session of the CEM.
“The big problem remains the issue of the mandate of the general director, which creates conditions for illegitimacy,” said Simona Veleva. In her words, her “no” vote is the only sign that this needs to be fixed.
Emil Koshlukov’s three-year term expired in July 2022, but the CEM failed to elect a director in the competition held shortly before that, and the lack of a decision led to court appeals. The case is not yet closed, which prevents the council from scheduling a new general director competition.
The chairperson of the CEM, Sonya Momchilova, even noted that she probably won’t be present at Koshlukov’s next regular report, as her mandate expires in June.
“Motivating no” – that’s how Naplatanova determined her vote, with the intention that in this way BNT would go towards a more serious technological renewal.
As a success for BNT, Koshlukov defined the partnership with Nova TV along with the football rights, when the two televisions share the matches from the championships. So the cost of each is half. According to him, the partnership model should be considered because these rights are expected to increase in price by 30-40% in 2026.
Another great success is the deal with HVO, as BNT is the first and only television in our country that managed to sell its series to the media giant. “Undercover” is one of the 4 series that Koshlukov mentioned as becoming part of the NVO program for the Adriatic. “We will probably be able to bring BNT to the world market with the new series and sequels,” said Koshlukov.
He explained that with Valya Gizdarska – the new program director of BNT, recently hired, they are thinking about creating their own reality programs on public television. They will be of the “Great Reading” type or about Bulgarian cinema – things that will suit the media.
By law, CEM cannot interfere in the editorial content of BNT, but nevertheless its members were surprised by the low rating and failure of the “Evening Show”, which is broadcast on Thursday evening. Recently, Andrea Banda-Banda took the place of Georgi Ljubenov, who hosted the show for 6 months, and thus the host was changed for the 5th time. Koshlukov explained that they are negotiating with very popular people to host the show, but admitted that they are having a hard time reviving it.
On the occasion of the financing of film production by BNT, the general director explained that public television has become the main pillar for cinema in our country. In addition to allocating 10% of its budget, it often supports feature films approved and financed by the National Film Center. When asked by Simona Veleva how much money BNT allocates for films, Koshlukov did not say a specific amount, but explained that 10% of the BNT budget is allocated after deducting capital costs. Sometimes this amount was less, but sometimes it exceeded the legal requirement.
With the changes in the cinema law, the NFC can now also co-finance TV series. However, Koshlukov is of the opinion that the National Film Center can hardly determine what TV series are needed. His idea is that BNT can participate with part of the financing for feature films, and NFC – for series.
