The challenge is that we live in interesting times

Velimira Petrova, Sales Director at bTV Media Group, made her traditional prediction for the media industry in 2025 in Forbes Bulgaria magazine.

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History has a way of repeating itself in interesting ways. As we approach 2025, the media landscape continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Driven by advances in technology, the way we consume, create and share content is beginning to evolve. From virtual reality immersion to personalized content delivery, the capabilities of the technological and creative revolution are not only agents of change, but two of the driving forces behind the evolution of the media industry. However, amidst the wave of innovation, the experience of media and agency groups over the past 2024 has clearly reinforced that nothing can replace a well-told story in a high quality and safe medium, which is still TV. Therefore, advertising investment in TV will continue to grow and be in demand in 2025.

 

Advertising is a profitable driver of business growth. Simply put, advertising works, and it works sustainably, and in the long run. Businesses are showing high returns on advertising investments, and that is why we expect their volumes to continue to increase. The trend towards cross-media planning is holding, with TV still holding a lead over all other platforms. The logic is clear - TV engages attention in an unparalleled way due to the crossover of the maximum potential of audio and visuals on the wide screen. It continues to be the home of high quality and proven productions, as each title undergoes a serious processing cycle and multi-layered review, which brings confidence to commercial partners and viewers about the content and environment they are positioning themselves in. And on top of that, the TV programme creates and carries content across all other platforms and media where it develops a life of its own and generates popularity. People watch TV, but they also like to talk about what they watch. On social media, viewer engagement grows with each show and what happens on screen is quickly transferred online, where audiences empathize with participants' challenges and, in some cases, can actively participate. For example, it was the viewers who chose the songs performed by the finalists in the last season of „The Voice of Bulgaria“ through online voting. It was the growing parallel digital life of the on-air shows that inspired us to create online formats - so-called "digital extensions" - that present completely different new content related to the popular bTV Media Group on-air shows. We launched them as a premiere format, which is now an established and trademarked feature of the shows we develop. Formats such as „The Bachelor“ and Bulgaria's premiere „Million Dollar Island” are distinctive in that they create themes and characters that a number of other media outlets cover. Television is a recharging machine that never stops working. It reflects the news, but it can also create it. It tells stories that touch and linger in the mind. It creates characters and raises issues that society needs to discuss. It gives access to live events that will never stop being exciting. Broadcast-only shows in the here and now, such as sporting events and awards ceremonies, continue to hold their indispensable place on television grids. These events remain a unique attraction that can hardly be replicated on other platforms. A current example is the audience share results achieved during the historic Bulgarian success of Kubrat Pulev, whose match brought him the world heavyweight title of professional boxing. It seems that artificial intelligence will not soon replace natural one in the media sector, because nothing is as creative as the creative charge of humans. Traditionally, at the end of each calendar year, a number of awards are handed out to recognize the most effective and successful campaigns and we can all see who is behind them - the people and the teamwork. True to the principle of creating innovation and solutions, at bTV Media Group we have been applying virtual and augmented reality technologies for years, especially in the production of news, advertising formats and even live events such as the 360-degree livestream we do for our format finals.

 

You can read the full article in the January issue of Forbes Bulgaria.