Bulgarian bTV Denies Airing Political Propaganda

Bulgaria's popular Bulgarian showman and TV celebrity, Slavi Trifonov, is accused of using his evening talk show for political propaganda. Photo by bTV

The leadership of Bulgaria's largest private TV channel bTV officially declared they have nothing to do with political support for the presidential bid of first and former Bulgarian EU Commissioner, Meglena Kuneva, voiced during one of their programs.

Thursday evening, popular Bulgarian showman Slavi Trifonov and his team from the evening talk show "Slavi's Show" officially confirmed their support for Kuneva.

The former Bulgarian EU Commissioner, who was in charge of consumer protection during the first Barroso college, took part in the show, answering questions prepared by the team of script-writers.

The show aired after a week-long advertisement on bTV about it, titled "The End of Silence."

Trifonov later made the clarification his show has now sponsorship ties with Kuneva.

bTV say they have nothing to do with the host's and the team's desire to lobby for the former commissioner, and the decision was made solely by "Slavi's Show."

"The show is an outside production with independent editing policies and all statements made there are on behalf of the company producing it," the management of the TV channel points out.

After the broadcast, Members of the Parliament from different political parties insisted on the involvement of the Council for Electronic Media (SEM) and its sanctioning of the show over political propaganda aired by a national television. The SEM Head, Georgi Lozanov, explained the show is an outside production and there is no violation of the Media Act.