Florian, you are celebrating two years at the helm of bTV Media Group next month. What have been the main challenges for your company during this period and what will be your strategy for 2019?

Our top priority has been to improve the financial results of the company. To this end, we put significant efforts into strengthening the audience results, developing our multiplatform presence, and improving our sales performance. And we succeeded because we put a primary focus on high quality content. We also made huge steps in improving the synergies among all bTV Media Group channels, so that our content performs equally well on TV, online and radio. Our strategy will continue to revolve around high quality, diverse and trustworthy content, with a stronger focus on our digital offerings.

2018 is almost over. Was it a good year for bTV Media Group in terms of financial and viewership results? 

Yes, we have been very pleased with the overall performance of bTV Media Group so far this year, with strong spring and fall schedules and significantly improved financial results in the first nine months. Now we have additional resources to invest more in high quality local content for all platforms, which as I mentioned, is our priority for 2019.

What are your expectations for the Bulgarian ad market for next year? Do you expect growth and what is the share of the TV ad market you are aiming to get in 2019?

We expect the market in 2019 to grow, backed by the healthy macro-environment and its influence on demand. At the same time, we also acknowledge and will further exploit the additional potential of the market - the ad intensity is still very low compared to the developed markets (less than half) with TV being the most accessible medium in Bulgaria. TV is highly effective and powerful, delivering the highest ROI and undisputed results for growing profitable, sustainable brands. bTV Media Group will continue to provide the highest impact and premium reach for advertisers.

Earlier this summer you announced the launch of a new modern studio for your news and current affairs. Tell us a little bit more about this project that has been described as the largest-scale technological project ever for bTV?

It is an entirely integrated studio for our news and the weekday current affairs programs, implementing state-of-the-art solutions, so far unseen on the local market. It is inspired by similar projects of leading worldwide TV channels, and we are working with internationally acclaimed studio designers. Because of its scale and complexity, the project will undergo several stages of preparation before our viewers can see it in early 2019. This effort serves an important purpose – to make the most watched and trusted news product in the country more accessible and comprehensible by the wider audience.

What is bTV's content strategy for the spring 2019 TV season? What will be the returning shows and what will be your new offerings?

We are building on the momentum from our successful seasons in the past two years. In terms of entertainment, we are working on the next, upgraded seasons of the spring rating leaders The Voice of Bulgaria, MasterChef Bulgaria, Home Makeover, Wife Swap and the Bulgarian series Capital Hillbillies.

As for the news and current affairs programs, they will remain the backbone of our program. The country is preparing for European elections and we’ll keep our commitment to our audience to deliver the most professional and unbiased reporting and analysis on the current events in Bulgaria and Europe.

This year your main competitor, Nova Broadcasting Group, announced that it will be acquired by a new player on the Bulgarian media market - PPF Group. The deal didn't go through because the local Commission for Protection of Competition blocked the acquisition. How will the deal, if approved, change the local media market in 2019? 

We are following the developments of the market, however I’ll not comment on this.

Earlier this year pubcaster BNT announced that Bulgaria won't take part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 due to lack of funds. In the past bTV and BNT cooperated and co-organized the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Have you considered teaming up with BNT again so that Bulgaria can take part in the Contest in Israel next year? 

The Eurovision Song Contest is a spectacular TV product, which we do appreciate. However, its next edition coincides with our flagship show in the same genre, The Voice of Bulgaria, which is already in production for a while, as a project of such scale should be. We are not considering Eurovision for 2019.

What is your digital strategy for 2019? Will you offer more content produced for your online platforms? 

We have a lot of exclusive online content already in shooting for the digital platforms of The Voice of Bulgaria and MasterChef Bulgaria. Our news team is in production of an online video series, “News from the Inside”, in which bTV’s hosts and reporters share insights about their job and how to distinguish professional qualitative journalism from fake news. Other original online productions are coming up as well. We recently upgraded our AVOD and SVOD platforms, bTV Plus and VOYO, so next year I expect bTV Media Group’s program offerings to perform even better there.

How has Voyo been performing against Netflix in the Bulgarian market, can you share some viewing figures?

There are conceptual differences between the two platforms, which predispose different user habits in Bulgaria. Netflix wins subscribers with its rich library and especially its original productions worldwide, but is still not offered in the local language or with local content in Bulgaria. VOYO is preferred mostly by the numerous bTV viewers who are following their favorite content ahead of the TV broadcast, and at their convenience afterwards.

Will bTV Media Group launch new niche channels in 2019? 

Our plans are focused mostly on enriching and improving the content offerings in our linear and digital channels but we are always closely monitoring the audience needs and the market opportunities to extend our portfolio.

> Interview for Ceetv.net