bTV’s “MasterChef” against Nova’s “Power Couple”: first clash

MasterChef is a world-famous format, proven on our market. On February 23rd, the seventh season started with the broadcast of the castings, which for the first time were held in the form of battles between the participants. It is logical to take the time to present a brief comparison of the results of the first episodes of previous seasons. Here is what reported by GARB ratings show:

Source: GARB Audience Measurement Bulgaria. Period: 03.03.2015-23.02.2021

According to the reported ratings in the considered target groups, the start of the seventh season is comparable to the results achieved at the start of the sixth season, but still well below the results achieved at the start of previous seasons.

At the same time, Nova broadcast the third episode of the second season of the Israeli licensed format “Power Couple”. The format started over the weekend, taking the lead over MasterChef and managed to grab the audience’s attention. In the coming weeks, the two formats will continue the direct clash for viewers’ attention, so we will follow-up to see which show wins:

Source: GARB Audience Measurement Bulgaria. Period: 23.02.2021

The ratings from the first battle in various target groups are not straight and we will look forward the development of both formats.

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“The day begins”, “This morning” and “Hello Bulgaria” in competition for the audience’s interest

The morning information blocks are one of the most emblematic and watched programs on the polythematic channels. For most of us the day starts with them – to see the news, to understand what the weather will be like, to hear fresh or curious sports news or current political comments. Live journalistic analyzes and discussions with topical guests make the morning hours extremely interesting for the audience, charge our day and give us occasions for discussion in the family, with colleagues, friends and acquaintances.

In order to get a more complete picture of the morning information blocks viewership, broadcast by the three main national televisions – BNT 1, bTV and Nova TV, we analyzed their average ratings for the first 7 calendar weeks from the beginning of 2021:

Source: GARB Audience Measurement Bulgaria. Period: 1.01.2021-19.02.2021

We focused on three criteria to compare the ratings of the programs – age, place of residence and gender.

Traditionally, the attention of the youngest audience in the country is the most difficult to reach and keeping them in front of the TV screen is a challenge for any television.

According to GARB’s data, the young audience under the age of 18 (A 4-17) prefers the morning news block “This Morning” on bTV, and “The Day Begins” on BNT 1 retains the least attention. The group of the economically active population A 18-49 is split between the bTV and Nova, and during the observed period the program “Hello Bulgaria” on Nova has a 15% higher average rating compared to the rating of “This Morning” on bTV.

It is an indisputable fact that the morning information blocks are the most popular among people over the age of 50 (A 50+). It is clear that the group has a strong preference for the morning show on bTV. The achieved average rating of “This Morning” on bTV in the target group A 50+ exceeds that of “Hello Bulgaria” on Nova by 58% since the beginning of 2021.

To get an idea of the preference of the viewers, we divided the audience according to the place of residence – Sofia, cities and villages. In each of these audiences, bTV has the highest average rating compared to its competitors. It is interesting that the ratings of the urban audience (Cities & Towns) and the audience from the villages (Villages) of “Hello Bulgaria” on Nova TV are very close, while BNT 1 and bTV have a clear tendency for higher ratings among the audience in the villages.

For years, the female audience has established itself as more easily accessible by television than the male, whose interest is harder to hold in front of the screen.

The morning information blocks of bTV and Nova are no exception and the results that reach women in the country are higher than those of men. The show “This Morning” on bTV is the most interesting and preferred among both groups, reporting about 31% higher ratings compared to “Hello Bulgaria” on Nova.

“The day begins” on BNT 1 shows the lowest average rating among the three morning blocks, but it is important to note that it only attracts higher interest among men compared to women.

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Gross advertising investment in TV in 2020 compared to 2019.

We present you a brief analysis of the gross advertising investment in TV for the three main TV channels, as well as cumulatively for the main TV groups:

Source: GARB Audience Measurement Bulgaria. Period: 1.01.2019-31.12.2020

After the strong start and high activity of advertisers in the beginning of 2020, with the announcement of the pandemic in mid-March 2020 and the introduction of a state of emergency in the country, we witnessed a panic stop of campaigns by many advertisers and their postponement for indefinite period. With the onset of summer and the easing of measures, most advertisers realized that the right behavior is to adapt the strategy to the new reality as quickly as possible. In the second half of 2020, the situation is normalized and even gave cause for optimism and a fast recovery.

Analyzing the market based on gross advertising revenues, the undisputable leader is bTV and the channels of the BMG group with a growth of 5.4% and a reported volume of nearly BGN 953 million. On second place in terms of gross advertising revenues is Nova and the TV channels represented by NBG with a growth of 0.9% compared to 2019 and a reported volume of 832 million leva. The difference between the two groups is nearly BGN 121 million or 12.7%. On third place is TSH with the represented by the company niche TV channels, marking an enviable growth of 25.2%, but the reported gross investment is only BGN 72 million. It is correct to clarify that the growth of TSH is due to the channels represented by the group, which in 2019 are not reported by GARB Audience Measurement Bulgaria, as well as to Viasat’s kids channels added to its portfolio in early 2020. The owned by the state BNT is the only losing TV group. Its advertising revenues declines in 2020 by 15.6% to BGN 6.1 million.

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How the ratings of TV groups changed in 2020 compared to 2019?

We present you a brief analysis of the average daily rating for the target group All 18-49 for the three main TV channels, as well as cumulatively for the main TV groups selling advertising time on Bulgarian market:

Source: GARB Audience Measurement Bulgaria. Period: 1.01.2019-31.12.2020

The announcement of the pandemic in mid-March 2020 and the introduction of a state of emergency in the country led to significant changes in the consumption of television content. Forced to spend more time at home, people have changed their daily habits, and part of this change is a longer stay in front of TV screens. All sport events were canceled or postponed and this had a negative impact on TV channels that are broadcasting sports content.

With the exception of BMG, all other TV groups recorded a solid increase in their average daily rating. NBG TV group marks a 38.7% increase of the average daily rating for 2020 compared to 2019, and in the main channel Nova this growth is 44.1%. BMG’s decline in the average daily rating in 2020 is 5.3%, while the main channel bTV decline is even more noticeable and is 9.9%. For the first time in 2020, Nova managed to surpass its direct competitor bTV in terms of rating. It is fair to note that during the isolation bTV stopped all its premium productions, thus trying to reduce their losses caused by the sharp reduction of advertising income. At the same time, Nova did not stop any of its projects, despite the expected short-term loss of advertising revenue. At the end, NBG’s decision proved to be a win-win and TV group managed to keep the audience as well as add a new one. Founded three years ago, TSH boasts a noticeable growth of 76.1%, but it is important to note that much of it is due to the adding in early 2020 of Viacom’s kids channels to the group of channels represented on our market by the company. The channels from the BNT group also grew by 21.4%, but it was not enough and the cumulative average rating ranked the state TV group on fourth place.

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