The Bulgarian National Television (BNT) was founded in 1959 and it was the first television service to broadcast on the territory of Bulgaria. Currently BNT operates on the basis of the ‘Radio and Television Act’ promulgated in the State Gazette, issue 138/1998. Under the Act, BNT is a legal entity based in Sofia and it is the national public service broadcaster and communications operator.As a public service broadcaster, the main purpose of BNT is to deliver a broad range of news and programming that keeps its audience informed about important issues and events in the areas of politics, economics, business, culture, science and education. Through its programming policy, BNT protects national interests and values, science and education; and represents the cultural heritage of all Bulgarian citizens, irrespective of their ethnicity. BNT caters for the diverse ideas and beliefs within society by reflecting the many different points of view and encouraging mutual understanding and tolerance in the relations between people.BNT has the commitment to produce a broad spectrum of national and regional programmes including ones about other countries, societies and cultures around the world; programmes that meet the needs of Bulgarian citizens whose mother-tongue is not Bulgarian, by the inclusion of original content in their own language; and programmes that keep Bulgarians living abroad up-to date with events in their home country.BNT operates four regional production centres in the cities of Blagoevgard, Varna, Plovdiv and Rousse.In 1999, BNT launched the satellite channel ‘TV Bulgaria’ designed mainly for Bulgarians living abroad. In 2008, ‘TV Bulgaria’ began broadcasting 24 hours a day and is available in Europe, parts of Africa and Asia, the USA, Canada and the whole of South America. At the end of 2010, the channel was renamed ‘BNT World’.Channel BNT2 was launched in 2011. It pooled together the programming of the four regional centres. It is available free-to-air in the major cities in Bulgaria.
BNT HD is a Bulgarian state-owned television channel, operated by the Bulgarian National Television, airing exclusively in high-definition (HDTV). It was launched on February 6, 2014 with the start of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games. Beforehand BNT use to air sports events as the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the London 2012 Olympics in HD on temporary HD channels which used to upscail the BNT 1 channel. In 2014 the national television decided to launch BNT HD as a fully scheduled channel. BNT HD airs free-to-air on the Bulgarian DVB-T platform.
BNT gives its viewers the benefit of emerging communications technologies and services and it was one of the earliest Bulgarian Media on the ‘World Wide Web’. Its website, bnt.bg, has been operative since the late 1990s. Through a button on the website, access to live streaming has been offered since 2010.
