23-05-2011

Bulgarian Cinema Screens Increase

By FNE Staff

    SOFIA: A new report from the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute (NSI) covering data from 2010 shows that Bulgarians prefer cinema to most other cultural activities. At the same time, film production increased, as did the number of screens although the total number of venues declined. Within the audiovisual sector, TV broadcasting hours decreased, combined with a small decrease in the percentage of advertising time on TV.

    According to Novinte, new technology was responsible for the increase of cinema screens to 151 by the end of 2010. However, during the past five years, the number of cinema venues in operation fell by 36%, to a low of 42. The average ticket price rose to BGN 7.94, up 5.7% in 2010. Film production was also up, to a total of 144, including 11 full-length feature films, an increase of 31% in 2010. TV films made of 70% of film production. Cinema attendance was up 36.7% and box office rose 44.5%.

    In the TV sector, programming hours dropped by nearly 5%, with the share of advertising time falling slightly, down 0.1%, for a total of 2,700 hours. Music, informational and educational programmes increased, while fiction and youth programming was stable, and children's programmes fell 11%, to 1,800 hours. Bulgaria had 100 licensed TV operators in 2010, who broadcast 661,000 hours of programmes.

    Published in Bulgaria
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