Search results : 127

On 24 March 2010 the Council for Electronic Media (CEM) issued to the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) a licence for the operation of television activities: the creation of a programme offer for terrestrial digital broadcasting by means of electronic communications networks of companies, to which the Communications Regulation Commission has issued a permit for the use of individually-defined scarce resources (radio frequency spectrum for carrying out electronic communications through terrestrial digital radio broadcasting, see IRIS 2009-5/12). The licence is issued for a programme called BNT...

The Electronic Communications Act was amended (published in the State Gazette, issue No. 27 of 2010, effective as of 9 April 2010, see IRIS 2010-3: 1 and IRIS 2009-5: 9) in relation to the personnel of the Communications Regulation Commission, which was reduced by four members. Pursuant to Article 22 of the Electronic Communications Act the Communications Regulation Commission is a collective body comprised of five members including a chairman and a vice-chairman. Pursuant to §6 of the conclusive provisions of the Act on the Amendment and Supplementation of the Electronic Communications Act the...

With the latest amendments to the Radio and Television Act, published in State Gazette No 12 dated 12 February 2010, a new administrative regime was established concerning on-demand media services. Persons who intend to provide on-demand media services shall notify the Council for Electronic Media according to a model which shall include: 1. The identification data concerning the person providing on-demand media services: name (firm), seat and registered address as well as the unified identification code; 2. A short description and the basic parameters of the on-demand media services provided; 3....

The News Corporation Inc. announced on 18 February 2010 that an agreement had been reached with Central European Media Enterprises (CME) for the sale of bTV, the first private television channel in Bulgaria. According to the agreement CME will pay USD 400 million for acquiring 100% of the shares of bTV. The price also includes the other channels of bTV - bTV Comedy and bTV Cinema, as well as 74% of the capital of the radio company CJ. In its official announcement News Corporation Inc. stated that the sale marks the final pull-out of the company from Central and Eastern Europe and from broadcasting...

In December 2009 the Council of Ministers submitted a Draft Law on the Amendment and Supplementation of the Electronic Communications Act (“Draft Law”) to the National Assembly. The Draft Law has been prepared in order to resolve the legal problems that have arisen from the last amendment of Article 251 of the Electronic Communications Act and influenced significantly the day-to-day investigative activities of the judicial system. The other reason for the proposed Draft Law is the requirements for the implementation of Directive 2006/24/EC on the retention of data generated or processed in connection...

On 18 December 2009 the National Assembly adopted at its first reading the Law on amendment and supplementation of the Radio and Television Act (Draft Law). The main aim of which is to implement the provisions of Directive 2007/65/EC. The following is a summary of the main changes introduced by the Draft Law. 1. The Draft Law replaces the current regulations on radio and TV activities by a new framework for the provision of audiovisual media and radio services, and also extends the regulation to audiovisual media services on demand. The latter are subject to the notification regime. The providers...

The new Bulgarian government undertook some urgent measures in order to implement Directive 2007/65/ЕC in Bulgarian law. The Council of Ministers has approached all key stakeholders to offer their opinions on the draft legislative acts that need to be prepared for the transposition of the Directive. Within the time limit set by the Ministry of Culture the following key stakeholders have put forward their opinions: the Council for Electronic Media, the Bulgarian National Television, the Bulgarian National Radio, the Television Producers Association, the Bulgarian Radio and Television Operators Association,...

In its extraordinary meeting on 11 September 2009 the Parliamentary Commission of Culture, Civil Society and Media reviewed and analysed the annual report of the Council for Electronic Media (CEM) for 2008. This is the first time that the CEM delivered an annual report about its activities under Article 39 para 1 of the Radio and Television Act. According to the report, in 2008 the CEM issued 18 licenses for radio activities and registered 17 television programmes distributed by means of cable and satellite and thus promoted the creation of local and regional radio programmes. During 2008 the CEM...

The Bulgarian Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC) received a request from MTG Broadcasting AB concerning the clearance of the intended acquisition of Diema Vision EAD by MTG. In its considerations on the request the CPC included its decision No. 879 dated 9 October 2008 permitting the acquisition of 100 % of the shares of Nova Television - First Private Channel EAD, 100 % of the shares of Nova Television Plus EOOD and 80 % of the shares of EVA Agency OOD by MTG Broadcasting EAD, Sweden. As part of internal restructuring measures, MTG has transferred its shareholding in Nova Television...

On 4 June 2009 the Bulgarian Constitutional Court decided on a case regarding the constitutionality of some provisions of the Electronic Communications Act (ECA) and the Radio and Television Act. The application to the Constitutional Court was submitted by 51 members of the National Assembly. The application contains arguments for declaring Article 47a, Article 48, paras. 3, 4 and 5 of the ECA (published in the State Gazette, issue 17 of 2009); Paragraphs 5, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d of the Final and Transitional Provisions of the ECA and Article 116i of the Radio and Television Act (published in the State...

On 19 May 2009 the Law on Public Radio Broadcasting (“LPRB”) was published in the State Gazette (issue No. 37). Despite some severe opposition from the media sector to the adoption of such an important legislative act in a non-transparent manner, the President has not vetoed the LPRB. The LPRB governs State participation in the broadcasting of Bulgarian National Television (“BNT”) and Bulgarian National Radio (“BNR”). The LPRB differentiates between two types of networks for the digital transmission of electronic communication: via radio network for the transmission of the signal and via a backbone...

On 2 April 2009 the Council of Ministers (CoM) adopted the Bill on Public Broadcasting (“Bill”). This happened without holding public discussions or consultations with the stakeholders: namely the Council for Electronic Media, the Communications Regulation Commission, the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) and the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR). The Law on Normative Acts and the Internal Rules of Procedures of the CoM explicitly provide that before adopting an act a consultation process should take place with the relevant interested parties. The Bill was submitted to the National Assembly on 6...

In March 2009 important amendments to the Electronic Communications Act (ECA) became effective. Some of the changes concern the process of digitalisation, while the remainder concern the licensing of analogue television. As a result of the changes the Council for Electronic Media (CEM) is no longer responsible for granting permits for analogue TV broadcasting and its powers have been transferred to the telecommunications regulator, Communications Regulation Commission (CRC), which is a political state body. Para 5 item 2 of the Transitional and Final Provisions of ECA states that: “Until new...

The Act on the Amendment and Supplementation of the Radio and TV Act was promulgated on 20 February 2009 in the State Gazette, issue 14 (“New Law”). The New Law sets out the main principles and rules for digital TV broadcasting in Bulgaria. According to the New Law the Council for Electronic Media (CEM) is empowered to grant licenses for broadcasting regional and national TV and radio programmes. The applications for such licenses should be reviewed and evaluated on the basis of the following criteria: 1. The original content and variety of the programming; 2. The opportunities for the creation...

On 7 January 2009 the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Agency for Information Technology and Communications adopted the Ordinance No 40 on Data Types and the Terms and Conditions for Retention and Dissemination of Data by the Enterprises Providing Public Electronic Networks and/or Services for the Purposes of National Security and Criminal Investigations (“the Ordinance”). The legal basis for this is Directive 2006/24/ЕC on data retention amending Article 251 of the Bulgarian Electronic Communications Act. Article 5 para. 1 of the Ordinance reads as follows: „For the purposes of criminal...

On 31 October 2008 a new Law on the Prevention and Disclosure of Conflict of Interests (Law) was promulgated in the State Gazette, issue No. 94. The new Act lays down the rules for the prevention and disclosure of conflict of interests of persons occupying public positions (see IRIS 2008-8: 6). According to Art. 2, para. 1 of this Law a conflict of interests arises when a person occupying a public position has any personal interest that may influence the impartial and objective performance of his powers and official obligations. Among the persons who will be affected by the Law are the members...

On 31 July 2008 the MTG Broadcasting AB (as buyer) and the Antenna Bulgaria (as seller) signed a preliminary sale purchase agreement for the acquisition of 100 % of the shares in Nova Television - First Private Channel. According to the preliminary sale purchase agreement the closing of the transaction can take place after all necessary licences, approvals and notifications have been duly performed. The Zakon za Radioto i Televiziata (Radio and Television Act, see IRIS 2002-2: 3) provides that the Council for Electronic Media shall approve any transfer of television licences. However, there is...

In its session of 1 October 2008, the Parliamentary Commission on Civil Society and Media discussed the Draft Law on Amendment and Supplementation of the Law on Electronic Communications as submitted by the Council of Ministers on 12 August 2008. The session was attended by representatives of the Communications Regulation Commission, the Council for Electronic Media, the State Commission on Information Technology and Communications, the Bulgarian Radio and Television Operators Association and the Electronic Communications Association. After discussing all relevant issues, the Parliamentary Commission...

On 6 October 2008 the Consumer Protection Commission banned the broadcasting of an advertisement, aired by TV operators in Bulgaria. The advertisement states that the only way to get high quality digital signal is to subscribe to the services offered by Bulsatkom (a Bulgarian HD operator). In the opinion of the Bulgarian Consumer Protection Commission such a statement contradicts Article 38, para 2, item 1, sentence 1 of the Law on Consumer Protection since high quality signal is also available through DVD.

On 17 September 2008 the Parliamentary Commission on Media and Civil Society discussed the Draft Bill amending the Radio and Television Act as proposed by the Council of Ministers. The Draft Bill concerns amendments and supplementation to the Radio and Television Act, which will enable the process of digitalization in Bulgaria. The Draft Bill limits certain powers of the Council for Electronic Media regarding the licensing of television operators and clearly determines the Communications Regulation Commission as the leading supervisory authority in the digitalization process. According to the Draft...

In 2007 a new Act on Medical Products in Human Medicine was passed by the Bulgarian Parliament (published in State Gazette, issue No 31 dated 13 April 2007). Chapter 11 of the Act is dedicated to advertising of medical goods. A definition of the term “Advertising of medical goods” is contained in Article 244 of the Act: “any form of information, presentation, promotion or suggestion, which is intended to stimulate the prescription, sale or use of any medical good and contains advertising aimed at the general public.” There are a number of special requirements in the Act regarding the content of...

In June 2008 the Council of Ministers submitted to the Parliament the draft of the Law on Conflict of Interests (“Draft Law”). According to the Draft Law a conflict of interests may exist if: 1. there are private interests of a person who occupies a state position or the interests of persons related to this person, which contradict his/her powers and duties; 2. a person who occupies a state position or persons related to him/her are interested in the results of his/her activities as a person occupying state positions and this may affect the performance of the state officials’ powers and duties;...

According to paragraph 4, item 1 of the Final and Transitional Provisions of the Electronic Communications Act (ECA) the relevant provisions of the Radio and Television Act (RTA) regarding digital licensing should have been amended in compliance with the rules of the new ECA not later than six months after the entry into force of the ECA. The ECA became effective on 25 May 2007 and therefore the legislative term for the amendments to the RTA has not been adhered to. At the beginning of 2008, the Ministry of Culture commenced the procedure for preparing a bill for amendments to the RTA (the “Bill”)....

On 13 November 2007, the daily edition of the news programme - “btv News” - broadcast at 7 p.m. by the btv channel (owned by Balkan News Corporation EAD, a wholly owned subsidiary of News Corp.) was interrupted twice by advertisements. The normal duration of the said news programme is between 7 and 8 p.m. each day, comprising two main sets of news (starting at 7 and 7.30 p.m., respectively), divided by a short commentary called “Small Commentary”. The whole programme starts at 7 p.m. and the final notes (captions) are provided at the end of the programme at around 8 p.m. In the beginning of March...

On 11 March 2008, the Council for Electronic Media (CEM) terminated the tenders for analogue TV broadcasting with local range for the cities of Sofia (three tenders), Plovdiv (two tenders) and Varna (three tenders). The CEM justified its decision as being necessary to promote the process of digitisation of TV broadcasting in Bulgaria. The termination of the tenders means that the seven frequencies, which are currently used by telecommunications operators under temporary licences on the basis of § 9а of the Final and Transitional Provisions of the Radio and Television Act, have to be freed immediately....

On 31 January 2008, the Council of Ministers adopted a Plan for the implementation of digital terrestrial television broadcasting (DVB-T) in Bulgaria. Two main goals are set out in the plan: 1. To ensure audience reception of television channels via terrestrial means, while there is also the possibility to use the cable or satellite reception of channels; 2. To attract a new audience and thus prevent the emergence of a monopoly of cable and satellite digital broadcasting. Pursuant to the plan the transition from analogue to digital terrestrial shall be accomplished in two stages: 1. The first...

In a judgement of 11 January 2008 the Supreme Administrative Court confirmed that the Council of Electronic Media (CEM) is not empowered to issue declarations, and therefore was not able to effectively postpone tender decisions by declaration. In 2006, the CEM published eight tenders for analogue television frequencies with local coverage for the cities of Sofia (3), Plovdiv (2) and Varna (3). After a special expert commission evaluated the tender documentation prepared by the applicants in the first half of 2007, a session of the CEM was scheduled for 2 July 2007 with the only purpose being to...

The establishment of the Bulgarian Radio and Television Fund has been postponed until 1 January 2009. According to the Radio and Television Act (see IRIS 2002-2: 3) the financing of the public operators (the Bulgarian National Television and the Bulgarian National Radio) and of the media regulator (the Council for Electronic Media) shall be provided by a specially designated fund: the Radio and Television Fund, established in cooperation with the Council for Electronic Media. The Fund shall be directed by a management board whose composition shall be determined by the Council for Electronic Media....

On 7 November 2007, the Commission for Protection of Consumers banned the broadcasting of an advertisement from the company HILD Bulgaria. The Commission took its decision on the grounds that the advertisement was misleading in the sense of Article 38, para. 1 of the Consumer Protection Act. The advertisement is based on a dialogue between four famous Bulgarian actors, who are over 65 years, and the executive director of HILD Bulgaria. The following message is delivered in the advertisement: “HILD offers to all people older than 65 years a way to use their home in order to ensure their comfort...

With the adoption of the Film Industry Act (“Act”) in 2003, the Executive Agency “National Film Centre” (“NFC”) was established, whose activities conform with the requirements of the EU programmes (in the first place “Media Plus”, in which Bulgaria has been a participant since July 2002) and of similar institutions of the European countries (see IRIS 2004-6/103). The enforcement of the Act has stimulated the Bulgarian film-producing industry and has increased the number of international co-productions by attracting foreign financial resources to Bulgaria. At the same time, some functional inadequacies...

On 11 September 2007, the Council for Electronic Media (CEM), in accordance with its powers pursuant to Art. 33 item 3 of the Закон за радиото и телевизията (Radio and Television Act - Zakon za Radioto i Televiziata - see IRIS 2002-2: 3), adopted recommendations for fair, balanced and impartial media coverage of the 2007 local elections in Bulgaria (see IRIS 2007-9: 7). The CEM opinion is intended to create a favourable working environment in which the election campaign is covered by television and radio operators, and to ensure the observance of the universal, equal and direct right to vote of...

On 28 October 2007 local elections will be held in Bulgaria. The main legislative act that regulates the media coverage of local elections is the Закон за местните избори , published in the State Gazette No. 66 of 25 July 1995 (Local Elections Act). On 3 August 2007 major changes to the Act were passed by the Parliament (published in the State Gazette, No. 63 of 3 August 2007). The Act provides that all candidates who are registered for participation in the elections shall have equal access to the mass media during the election campaign. The election programmes of the radio and television broadcasters...

On 8 May 2007, the Council of Ministers adopted a regulation on the terms and conditions for the participation of the bodies responsible for the protection of the economic interests of the consumers in the administrative co-operation with the member states of the EU and the European Commission. Pursuant to the regulation, the administrative co-operation between the Bulgarian authorities responsible for the protection of economic interests of the consumers and the member states of the European Union and the European Commission shall be carried out between: 1. The Commission on Protection of Consumers...

Наказателен кодекс (the Bulgarian Criminal Code) has recently been amended. One of the amendments concerns the introduction of a new criminal offence for the distribution of pornographic materials by all types of media operating in the territory of Bulgaria. A new definition of “pornographic material” has been added to Article 93, item 28 of the Criminal Act. Namely, "Pornographic material" is defined as a material which is indecent, unacceptable or incompatible with public morals and which depicts in an open manner a sexual conduct. Such conduct shall be action, which expresses real or simulated...

The dispute between Television MM and Radio Vaselina has came to an end after a final decision of the second instance of the Supreme Administrative Court (“SAC”). This dispute began in 2004 when the Комисия за защита на конкуренцията (Commission for Protection of Competition - CPC) opened proceedings against Radio Veselina upon the complaint of Television MM regarding a possible breach of Art. 30 and Art. 34, para. 7 of the Competition Protection Act. Television MM (owned by Apace Media since August 2005) is a licensed national operator. Its channel “Television MM” is music-oriented and it is broadcast...

On 22 February 2007, the Parliament passed the Zakon za Izbirane na Chlenove na Evropeyskiya Parlament ot Republika Balgaria (Act on the Election of Members of the European Parliament by the Republic of Bulgaria). The Act provides the opportunity for Bulgarian citizens to be elected members of the European Parliament for the first time. The Act was promulgated in the State Gazette (issue 20 of 6 March 2007) and entered into force on the same day. Chapter 6 of the Act regulates the media coverage (press and electronic media) of the election campaign. According to the Act, the press and the private...

Art. 26, para. 3 of the Zakon za Radioto i Televiziata (Bulgarian Radio and Television Act, see IRIS 2002-2: 3) stipulates that any person who has been an informer of the former State Security, whether full-time or part-time is not eligible for membership of the Council for Electronic Media. The same requirement applies to the members of the management boards and the general directors of the public broadcasters, which are the Bulgarian National Radio and the Bulgarian National Television (Art. 59, para. 2, subpara. 3 and Art. 66, para. 1 of the Radio and Television Act). However, these provisions...

At the end of 2006 amendments of the Zakon za Radioto i Televiziata (Bulgarian Radio and Television Act - see IRIS 2002-2: 3) were passed by the Parliament (State Gazette, No 105 [2006]). The amendments introduced more efficient supervisory powers for the Council for Electronic Media as regards the monitoring of the activities of all licence-holders – radio and television broadcasters (broadcasting via terrestrial transmitters). The new powers cannot be used, however, in relation to the registered media operators transmitting via cable or satellite, which represent the majority of the television...

At the end of 2006, the Council of Ministers adopted a draft law on amendments and supplements to the Zakon za Radioto i Televiziata (Bulgarian Radio and Television Act, see IRIS 2002-2: 3). The proposed law was passed by the Parliament soon after the opening of its first session in the new year. The amendments were proposed with regard to the accession of Bulgaria to the European Union on 1 January 2007. According to the draft, all citizens and legal entities based in the European Union or the European Economic Area will be entitled to carry out radio and television activities in the territory...

At the beginning of 2007 new tenders for regional analogue terrestrial television broadcasting are to be opened - two in the city of Plovdiv (January 2007), three in the city of Varna (January 2007) and three in the city of Sofia (February 2007) - following procedures already opened on 11 May 2006 by the Council for Electronic Media for 22 regional radio stations which should be completed by the end of December 2006. The procedures are a consequence of a new strategy for the development of radio and television activity through terrestrial broadcasting which entered into force at the beginning of...