bTV: more local series and big entertainment formats

Vicky Politova has been part of bTV’s team ever since the launch of the station in 2000, when she took the position of general sales manager. In 2005 she took over the operational management of the channel and was promoted to station manager of bTV, and in October 2006 took the position of general manager of the channel. After bTV's acquisition by CME Group in 2010 she was appointed as COO of bTV Media Group, responsible for the results of the combined group of TV channels: bTV, bTV Comedy, bTV Cinema, bTV Action, bTV Lady and RING.BG, plus all the Web domains and 6 radio platforms.

Since May 2011 Politova has been Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of bTV Media Group, having proved to be the most successful TV station manager since the emergence of the private media on the Bulgarian market. Her involvement with the milestones of bTV’s history has been significant and she greatly contributed to the indisputable success of bTV as the number one TV station in Bulgaria for eleven consecutive years.

Prensario: How would you describe the moment of bTV Media in the Bulgarian TV market?
Vicky Politova: In 2011 bTV Media Group once again proved its indisputable leadership on the market, both in terms of audience share and advertising revenues. In the last unquestionably difficult year, considering the world economic crisis, the main channel bTV managed to achieve its best viewership results for the past eight years and outgrew its leadership position of the early days. These results are even more outstanding in view of the ever-growing competition on the market during the last several years. Our long-term programming strategy, focused on innovation and trendsetting both in content and scheduling, not only neutralized the ambitious efforts of our competitors to duplicate bTV success with similar moves, but also increased the gap between bTV and the rest of the channels.

The audience share of bTV for 2011 is nearly 40% (All4+), increasing almost 2% compared to 2010, while our main competitor –MTG owned Nova– reported a 13,3% share. Besides, the combined share of bTV Media Group channels is nearly 45%, compared to 21% share for the MTG channels in Bulgaria.

In 2011, bTV leadership reached one of its peaks on an image level as well. The results from the nationally representative qualitative & quantitative survey conducted by Market Links in 2011 demonstrate that the bTV brand creates the strongest associations with a set of image attributes, and was named to be the most innovative, modern, dynamic, socially responsible, bold and ambitious brand on the market. bTV is the favorite channel of 53% of the viewers aged 18-54 vs. only 10% for the main competitor. 

P: Which were the main goals of the company during 2012?
VP: Our primary goals are to preserve our leadership on the market and remain the trendsetter in the industry, while successfully expanding our niche channels portfolio offering and developing new digital projects. We are currently operating six TV channels, in a well-balanced mix of genres, satisfying different target audiences and tastes. The most recent channel launched in January is the female bTV channel, bTV Lady, completing a most diverse bouquet offer on the market of great content variety.

With regard to the main channel, bTV, our strategy is to further explore the trend we diligently established in the area of the weekly local fiction genre, which proved to be well accepted by the Bulgarian audience. We not only added more viewers, but also were able to attract a younger, more active audience, thus improving our sales pitch. Innovative reality and entertainment programs will also remain in our focal point in 2012, alongside exclusive CSR projects.

News and current affairs have always been a top priority for bTV Media Group, and after having successfully launched news and talk radio, our efforts this year will be directed to further strengthen our news presentation and presence in internet. We launched a dedicated online news platform in early 2012. We will also further improve and promote the VOD platform, VOYO, on which viewers can catch up on all of their favorite local shows from bTV immediately after broadcast, see their favorite programs ahead of transmission as well as watch hundreds of movies and series and catch live streamed events. It is a revolutionary way to satisfy viewers’ demands for entertainment at their convenience and offers people an alternative to piracy.

P: How is the European crisis affecting the TV market? How are you solving it?
VP: While it has been a difficult and challenging period for the media industry, we at bTV Media Group maintained a commitment to investing in high quality productions, aiming to increase advertisers’ demand for a stronger presence in a highly effective environment. We kept our promise to the viewers and advertisers, and did not delay the introduction of a high quality local modern fiction production on TV, delivering four top quality Bulgarian PT series in various genres, thus diversifying advertising opportunities. We also responded to the audience’s expectations for brand new entertainment productions, such as The Voice of Bulgaria, which premiered in the summer of 2011 and reached record high rating results during a season often considered as low. By maintaining high levels of investment in strong content and with innovative scheduling techniques, we were recognized and supported by our clients, who on their turn were tempted to maintain good levels of investment with us. On the other hand, the successful investment in content also allowed us to earn higher subscription revenue from our cable channel offering to the networks.

P: New shows on air: are you programming more entertainment or fiction?
VP: We are maintaining a focus on original local fiction productions, like House Arrest, The Glass House, Citizens in Excess and Seven Hours Difference, that not only generate rating points, but also give us the necessary flexibility of taking more runs during longer broadcast windows. Thus, we will continue with a heavier local skew strategy in 2012, as this gives us more flexibility in content window management with cost discipline being an important aspect. The lack of exclusivity on foreign content and the constantly overlapping windows, with limited runs over small license periods, does not allow us to reach a desired distinguished presence and efficiency for our channels to the extent that local production does.

At the same time we cannot deprive our audience of the imported Turkish series, which once again reached breathtaking results in 2011. They will certainly find a place in our schedule, as long as the viewers appreciate them. On bTV’s primetime we will be returning with a second season of Bulgaria’s Got Talent, hopefully again to great results during this spring.

We are also planning to upgrade our program grids in 2012 with more comedy programs, complemented with a fine selection of upcoming TV premiers of Hollywood blockbusters and top rated acquired series, alongside a richer local content offering across our entire niche TV channel portfolio. We acknowledge that we have a strong competitive advantage in both scripted and non-scripted local productions and can use this as a great differentiator, on the main channel and on the niche subscription channels too.

P: Describe the content trends in Bulgaria. What does the audience wants to watch?
VP: One leading advantage that bTV Media Group has over the competition is the diversity in content offering and the plurality of choice extended through our well-segmented bouquet of channels on the market. Our channels are recognized for the high quality selections of programs and audience friendly schedules. We are leaders in news and news content is getting more and more attention among the millions of Bulgarians living in a more difficult environment triggered by the current financial and economic crisis. It is namely the strong news and current affairs programs that largely attract and retain our loyal audience. Our news programs have always been the main pillar in bTV’s program, and we have enjoyed being the unquestionable information leader in Bulgaria for over 10 years in a row.

We constantly study the audience taste and expectations in terms of entertainment and try to respond quickly to those demands.

Last but not least, we are a socially responsible media group, and we react and step in when the State or the institutions are incapable of providing relief. This largely distinguishes us from the competition and positions us very well with our viewers. Our brand power is therefore very strong and reliable, contributing further to great viewership and audience loyalty. 

P: Future plans of expansion in 2012. How are the DTT channels and the new digital platforms changing the local media landscape?
VP: Following the launch of bTV Lady we will continue to work to develop new niche channel projects for 2012 that will fulfill current TV viewing model requirements for even greater diversity and segmentation of content. We believe in the benefits of a successfully developed multichannel strategy, and are convinced that it will help us meet the challenges of the transition to DTT. At the same time we are further expanding our Internet presence in 2012, under a ‘one content multiple distribution strategy’ trying to establish a direct and undisturbed distribution arm for our content, to be enjoyed by our audiences at their convenience.