WORLD PRESS TRENDS - World Association of Newspapers

BULGARIA
BULGARIA
Commentary - Maxim Behar, Chief Executive, M3 Communications Group, Inc.
2002 was the quietest media year the Bulgarian market has had
for 12 years – there were no elections, no political changes, and
no new international investors in printed media. The economy
grew slowly (by 2%- 4%), so the consumption power of people
remained the same. This was the reason the only event in the
printed media market was a newspaper promotions ‘war’,
aimed at increasing sales.
The two largest-circulating newspapers, 24 Chassa and Trud
(both owned by German media group Westdeutsche
Allgemeine Zeitung), started vast promotional games, which
rapidly increased their circulations. Other dailies like Standart,
Monitor, and Novinar also started massive promotions. Some
observers believe that this partly destroyed the market, because
the battle was moved from journalistic work and information
to product promotion.
POPULATION
In any case, games and promotions with big awards benefited
the circulations of many newspapers and the market is now a
little bit more stable. One of the most influential dailies, Monitor,
launched a smaller newspaper, Vizh (Look), which soon achieved
the same circulation as Monitor due to its lower price and
investigative information. One of the most serious financial dailies
Dnevnik started a big promotion of its paid online edition, while
the best weekly political magazine Team made its market position
more stable with about 40,000 readers.
VAT remained the same and is one of the highest in Europe at
20%, which continues to make the life of publishers and readers
much more difficult.
Population by age and sex (2002)
All individuals Male Female Households
000 % 000 % 000 % 000
Children 1,388 17 712 18 676 16 2,392 *
16-24 1,222 15 625 15 597 14
25-34 1,118 13 567 14 551 13
35-44 1,146 14 569 14 577 14
45-54 1,154 14 562 14 592 14
55-64 963 12 453 11 510 12
65+ 1,294 16 558 14 736 17
Total 8,285 100 4,046 100 4,239 100
Source: National Statistical Institute
* 2003 data
Households (2002)
Households
Occupancy 000 %
1 person - -
2 people 1,180 48
3 people 712 29
4 people 514 21
5 or more people 65 3
Total 2,471
without children 884 42
with children 1,212 58
Total 2,096 100
Source: National Statistical Institute
Working population by social class and sex (2002)
Adults Male Female
000 % 000 % 000 %
AB 352 12 231 14 121 9
C1 747 25 414 26 334 24
C2 1,859 61 945 59 913 65
D 59 2 20 1 39 3
E 12 0 6 0 6 0
Total 3,029 100 1,616 100 1,413 100
Source: National Statistical Institute
A= company owners
B= self employed
C1= employees in private companies
C2= employees in public sector
D= family-employed, not paid
E= not specified
NUMBER OF TITLES AND CIRCULATION
Age structure of readership
% of
Age
readership
Under 16 6
16-24 9
25-34 19
35-44 27
45-54 22
55-64 14
65+ 3
Source: M3 Communications
Newspaper reach (%)
Daily Monthly
All adults 45 81
Source: M3 Communications
Change (%)
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 98/2002 2001/02
Number of titles
Total dailies 33 36 43 49 48 45.5 -2.0
National dailies 11 12 12 18 19 72.7 5.6
Regional dailies 20 20 26 26 24 20.0 -7.7
Local dailies 2 4 5 5 5 150.0 0.0
Non-dailies 112 115 114 114 62 -44.6 -45.6
National non-dailies 78 80 80 80 62 -20.5 -22.5
Regional non-dailies 28 29 28 28 - - -
Local non-dailies 6 6 6 6 - - -
Sundays 4 4 6 6 - - -
Free papers 2 2 3 3 3 50.0 0.0
Circulation (000)
Total dailies 1,112 1,350 1,400 - 1,400 25.9 -
Non-dailies 1,240 1,620 1,750 - 1,750 41.1 -
Sundays 146 161 170 - - - -
Free papers 812 910 910 - 910 12.1 -
Source: M3 Communications
Titles
51
49
47
45
43
41
39
37
35
33
31
29
27
25
Number of daily titles and circulation
Titles
Circulation
1,450
1,400
1,350
1,300
1,250
1,200
1,150
1,100
1,050
1,000
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Circulation (000s)
68
WORLD ASSOCIATION OF NEWSPAPERS - WORLD PRESS TRENDS 2003