Bulgarian sports will not remain unaffected by impending major reshuffling on the domestic television market. More sports channels means stiffer competition, a greater number of events being covered and, in theory, a higher quality of service provided, although only time will tell if that is indeed the case.

Shortly after the announcement that Central European Media Enterprises (CME) agreed to buy Bulgaria’s leading private channel bTV, the country’s second largest private broadcaster Nova Televiziya applied for a sports channel licence.

Nova Televiziya, the Bulgarian subsidiary of Nordic Modern Times Group (MTG), asked the country’s Council on Electronic Media to approve the change in format at its MM music channel.

If granted the licence, Nova Sport is poised to begin broadcasting by July and the service will be distributed through the cable networks and satellite operators nationwide and beyond. "The new sports channel will enrich the mix of the Nova and Diema channels and will answer the needs and expectations of the viewers," MTG said in a media statement.

For the time being, it remains unclear whether and how the new channel would affect its existing portfolio. Currently, Nova’s sports broadcasts are limited to football on its Diema and Diema2 channels.

The two channels now broadcast the English Premier League, FA Cup and home matches of the English national team, as well some Champions League matches. In the past, Diema broadcast matches from Spain’s Primera Division and also won the rights to show Euro 2008 matches.

Nova recently bought broadcasting rights for the English Premiership for the next three years for 2.5 million euro a year in what was an unprecedented deal in Bulgarian television history. The broadcaster was also reported to be interested in buying the rights to broadcast the home matches of Bulgaria’s national football team.

"Bulgarian viewers have a strong demand for the sporting channel to provide them with the best of international sports events," Nova Televiziya chief executive Jacob Andersson was quoted as saying by Dnevnik daily.

CME already owns Pro.bg and Ring.tv channels in Bulgaria, which broadcast Bulgarian football league matches and have the first pick of Champions League matches. Its newest acquisition, bTV, lost broadcasting rights to the Champions League, but still holds the rights to show Formula 1 races.

Bulgarian National Television generally holds the rights for all Bulgarian national team matches (football, basketball and volleyball), along with major international sporting events, such as Olympics and the 2010 football World Cup.

Time will tell whether Nova Sport will succeed in challenging Eurosport as the only widely-available round-the-clock sports channel in Bulgaria, but football fans in Bulgaria already have reason for joy, with iconic British magazine FourFourTwo announcing the launch of its Bulgarian edition. FourFourTwo becomes the second influential football magazine to publish a Bulgarian version, following in the footsteps of Spainish weekly Don Balon.

Published in the UK by Haymarket, the Bulgarian edition of FourFourTwo will have a 70-30 format, with the bulk of the content covering British football and 30 per cent reserved for the domestic game. Priced at five leva, it will come out monthly with an initial circulation of 10 000.