Search results : 244

According to a report on the activities of the Council for Electronic Media of Bulgaria for the year 2010, two licenses for the digital broadcasting of “must carry” programmes have been issued, namely to Towercom Bulgaria EAD and Hannu Pro Bulgaria EAD. The procedure for granting the licenses was completed in February 2011. During the reported period the procedure for granting licenses for television activities in accordance with the digital broadcasting agreement method was also finalised. The following issues of concern have been raised in the regulator’s report for the second half of the previous...

By Regulation No 108 dated 26 April 2011 approving the Tariff of Radio and Television Activities Fees (promulgated in the State Gazette, issue No 35 dated 3 May 2011) the Council of Ministers of Bulgaria, acting on the grounds of Art. 102, para 6 of the Radio and Television Act, adopted a new tariff of the radio and television fees and repealed the old tariff, which was adopted by the Council of Ministers in 2006 (Regulation No 135 of the Council of Ministers, promulgated in the State Gazette, issue No 49 of 2006). The new tariff reflects the changes made in the Radio and Television Act concerning...

After the Constitutional Court had repealed a provision by which the ruling majority attempted to restrict State subsidy for film productions (see IRIS 2011-5/8), on 3 June 2011, in the course of the Parliamentary control, the Minister of Culture explained that he would request from the budget an amount of BGN 16,6 million to be allocated to the field of film production. The Minister also mentioned that all his predecessors had signed contracts for film productions without any financial support. According to him in 2008 the budget of the National Film Centre was BGN 5,7 million, whereas the approved...

On 7 June 2011 the Council of Ministers submitted a new Bill to amend the Закон за електронните съобщения (Electronic Communications Act - ЗЕС) to the Parliament. Some of its provisions impose new rules on entities which create radio and television programmes in Bulgaria with the purpose to transmit those programmes only abroad. In this connection, in the Transitional and Final Rules of the Bill, some new provisions also to the Закон за радиото и телевизията (Radio and Television Act of 1998 lastly amended in State Gazette No 28 of 5 April 2011 - ЗРТ) are added. A new section is created in chapter...

The European Commission has launched an infringement procedure against Bulgaria over irregularities in the selection procedures for the companies to build the platforms for digital distribution of radio and television programmes (multiplexes, see IRIS 2011-4/12). Reportedly, in the Commission’s view, the selection method includes some discriminatory conditions, such as the requirement that bidders shall not perform television activities abroad. Applying the latter condition, the Austrian company ORS was disqualified from the selection process. In 2009 the Bulgarian Constitutional Court decided...