site.btaIncumbent Director Milen Mitev in Bid for New Term: Bulgarian National Radio’s Future Hinges on Funding Model, Not Amount

The main issue concerning the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) is not the amount of its funding, but the model of financing, Milen Mitev, the first candidate for the position of director general of BNR, said during a hearing by the Council for Electronic Media (CEM) here on Tuesday. Mitev currently holds the position, with his term ending on October 31.

"The discussion about whether public media funding is adequate is meaningless unless we first determine the purpose of this funding," Mitev said. He mentioned that the right approach would be to clearly outline the media's public mission first.

Mitev said that the outdated system for funding public media obstructs medium- and long-term planning and disconnects the radio's funding from its actual activities. "This issue is somewhat connected to the challenge of attracting motivated staff to work at BNR. Additional challenges the radio encounters include the brand not being well-recognized among young people and a trend of reduced listening time," he noted.

Mitev mentioned that despite these challenges, he believes the national radio is "well-positioned and handling these challenges effectively." "At present, it is one of the leading information media in the country, with an average of around 110,000 listeners at any given time. The BNR group's average audience share exceeds 32%," he added.

The radio must support important social causes, Mitev said. He added that one of these causes is improving media literacy.