ABAA president Krassimir Guergov announced that total advertising amount in 2009 was less than €190 million. "Compared to 2008 this is a decline of 25%," he said.

According to TNS/TV Plan, media advertising costs decreased 20% - 35%. At the same time the most active agencies lowered their rates by 40%.

Attracting over 60 % from all investments the TV channels still puts them in a better position compared to printed press, radios and outdoor advertising. bTV (www.btv.bg) realized a small increase of its market share, unlike Nova TV (www.novatv.bg). The Bulgarian National Television (www.bnt.bg), Pro.BG (probg.bg), FoxLife (www.foxlife.bg) and bTV Comedy (www.btv.bg) also slightly bettered their positions.

According to the biggest Bulgarian ad agency Piero97 (www.piero97.com) printed media were in a state of panic last year. In stead of decreasing their advertising costs they increased them 5% - 10%," explained Ivo Tzekov, manager general of Piero97.

The sector that suffered most was the IT network. "The internet ad boom that everyone believed in just did not happen," resumed Tzekov. "If in 2008 the growth of the online advertising grew by 76%, in 2009 the increase was not more than 4%. Piero'97 estimates that internet advertising in 2009 did not surpass €19 million.