Only three months after the last parliamentary elections, Bulgaria votes again for members of parliament in the National Assembly. The distinguishing feature of the elections held on July 11, was that for the first time in most of the sections the machine voting was obligatory. This feature, as well as everything about the elections, were followed in special studios by the leading national televisions – BNT 1, bTV and Nova TV. To our analysis we added 7/8 TV, which in the previous elections managed to attract the attention of viewers. Traditionally, the most recognizable hosts of the TV channels commented and analyzed what was happening with interesting interlocutors from different spheres of the political and economic environment of the country. Journalism, virtual reality, live coverage of hotspots in the country and abroad were a significant part of the program of the three national televisions during the election day. Which of them attracted the most viewers aged 18 and over you can see in the presented below chart:
The morning information blocks – “The day begins with Georgi Lyubenov” (BNT 1), “This Sunday: The new parliament – we are electing again” (bTV) and “Wake up … Bulgaria is electing!” started warming up the audience at the same time, at 7:00 a.m.. The early time slot between 6:00 and 8:00 o’clock in the morning is the only daily time frame in which Nova TV dominates. After 8:00 a.m. the audience in front of the screens increases, and it is clear from the chart that most of them prefer watching bTV. 7/8 TV lags the leading media with almost zero values until 14 o’clock. Traditionally, the lunch time zone, in which News programs are broadcast, is among the most watched during the day. The graph shows that between 12 and 13 o’clock the viewers of Nova TV and bTV peak and increase by 40% and 52% respectively, while the audience of BNT 1 decreases by 23%. The afternoon time slot between 13 and 15:30 o’clock is scheduled for entertainment movies on all three channels, and it is noteworthy that only bTV interrupts its program at 14:00 for a brief news review, but this does not particularly affect the rating in this hour. Again at the same time, exactly at 15:30 o’clock, the live studios start with analyzes and comments about the election day on all three leading televisions. At the same time, the viewers’ interest in 7/8 TV is growing and the channel reaches its first peak for the day – 0.52% rating. As we approach the culmination of election day, interest in what is happening in the country is gradually growing. This is most evident from the high results that are reported for television between 19:00 and 22:00. During this time slot bTV again definitely dominates. Here it is important to note that the televisions with rights to broadcast the matches of the European Football Championship – BNT 1 and Nova TV – began to broadcast “live” the final of the tournament at 21:30 o’clock. This is the main reason for the sharp “jump” of BNT 1 rating, which displaces bTV from the leading position after 10 p.m.
To supplement the information regarding the performance of the televisions, we prepared additional charts with data on the achieved results in other key target groups. You can check them in the image gallery below:
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