Nova TV buys music media from channels 3 and 8

The Domuschievi brothers’ company, Nova Broadcasting Group, wants to take control of the musical media on channels 3 and 8 associated with Delyan Peevski: the radios Veselina, Vitosha, Vitosha FM (no activity), Express (no activity) activity ), “Magic FM”, “The Voice Radio” and the televisions “Magic TV” and “The Voice TV”, is clear from a statement from the Commission for the Defense of Competition (CPC).

Notification of the next concentration is required by law, as the antitrust authority must assess the impact of the transaction on the market.

Just a few days ago, on August 20, the daily Capital reported that Nova Broadcasting Group had acquired 100% of the online group Net Info. Until recently, the Domuschievs owned 70% of the group.

Since Nova TV became the property of brothers Kiril and Georgi Domuschievi, various “Channel 3” staff members affiliated with media mogul and MRF MP Delyan Peevski have been transferred to work in the media. In December, Iva Stoyanova, the former owner and longtime boss of Kanal 3, became the director of Nova, and in early February she became the director of Nova TV.

Before that, Vasil Ivanov returned from “Channel 3” to “Nova”, who became a prominent investigative journalist on Domuschiev television. Other Channel 3 reporters have also started working for Nova.

In May 2019, Milyana Veleva, who until then held the same position at Channel 3 TV, was appointed Director of News and Actuality at Nova TV. Almost immediately after Veleva’s appearance, Victoria Behar, a news manager, left television.

Just a few days ago, businessman Kiril Domuschiev announced on his Facebook account that he had “no joint business with Mr. Delyan Peevski.” At the same time, Peevski’s opponents, the banker Tsvetan Vassilev and the head of the game Vasil Bozhkov, claim exactly the opposite. In June, Vassilev directly stated that Delyan Peevski dominated Nova TV, and Kiril Domuschiev only provided the funds.

Several of Nova’s biggest names were forced to terminate their media contracts.

The investigative team, which included Genka Shikerova, Mirolyuba Benatova and Marin Nikolov, were forced to leave in 2019. Long before them, producer Darina Sarelska left television, who was accused by journalist Vasil Ivanov of stopping the investigations .

The presenter Lora Krumova and the director and author of collages Valdés Radev parted ways with television. Also removed was Silva Zurleva, who was involved in the creation of television at the end of the last century and died on New Year’s Eve in a ridiculous accident. Several of the producers and presenters, such as Tsvetomir Semov, Diana Dimova, Marina Tsekova and Elena Gyurova, also resigned from Nova TV.

Nikolay Alexandrov was fired from the “Gong” sports site, prompting the departure of the entire team that created the show and the site. The contract of the executive director of “Net Info” Hristo Hristov was also terminated, who confirmed that the journalists of the group are under pressure.

Nova TV was bought by the Domuschiev brothers in early 2019 for EUR 185 million, half of which was financed by large loans from 4 banks: UniCredit Bulbank – EUR 50 million, BNP Paribas – EUR 20 million, UBB – 20 million euros and DSK Bank – 10 million euros. The CCP then gave the green light for the transfer, after previously using unconvincing arguments to stop the sale of Nova TV to Czech billionaire Petar Kellner.