The first transmission of music and speech in Bulgaria was received from Germany in 1921. In 1924 the radio-tube receivers created great public interest. People bought tickets to listen to radio concerts and programs of entertainment. Broadcasting in Bulgaria originated in 1929 when "Hello, this is Radio Sofia calling" was broadcast from a small transmitter in the capital city of Sofia. The state took over radio broadcasting on 17 January 1935. The Council of ministers passed a decree endorsing the law for radio broadcasting by virtue of article 47 of the Constitution. A couple of days later, on 26 January, King Boris III signed decree No. 25 which provided for the opening of a radio station in Sofia and for the start of radio broadcasting in the country followed by the setting up of radio stations in the towns of Stara Zagora and Varna. Seventeen engineers and technicians maintained the transmitters in the three towns.
The first director of Radio Sofia was Panayot Todorov, pen-named Sirak Skitnik, a prominent artist and intellectual. He initiated the start of broadcasts in three foreign languages to the world. Also, he promoted the tracing down and recording of unique Bulgarian folklore samples, the broadcasting of foreign language courses and the launching of public opinion polls.
In the beginning the leading figures in broadcasting were the announcers. Their names were well-known to the public and their photos would be regularly seen in the numerous radio journals during the period of 1936-1944. The first radio contest was held in 1934, the first professional radio announcer was Peter Vitanov. He was highly regarded on the air and he was placed second after Yurii Levitan of Radio Moscow on the international rating list of radio announcers as rated in Switzerland in 1937.
The construction of the home of Bulgarian National Radio began in 1938 and was completed in 1941. The design was drafted on the instructions of the German Telefunken company. In 1944 the eastern facade and the roof were destroyed during the air attacks against Sofia.
Today Bulgarian National Radio is a public service radio operator whose signals are heard through out the country. It functions on the authority of the Law for radio and Television of 1998 and is supervised by the National Council of Radio and TV. Bulgarian National Radio is an information and cultural institute which has two 24 hour national channels - Horizont and Hristo Botev. The World Service called Radio Bulgaria broadcasts daily in 10 languages. There are 5 regional radio stations within the system: Varna, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Shumen and Blagoevgrad. The correspondent network has over 30 bureaus in the country and anchors in Bonn, Belgrade, Moscow and Skopje.
The Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in the country with a diverse repertoire that includes music from the Baroque to modern times. The members of the orchestra are graduates of many of the prestigious institutions of the world. One of the main act activities of the orchestra is making recordings. Apart from the recordings for the National Radio Music Library, the orchestra also participates in commissioned recordings for different foreign producers and companies.
The Bulgarian National Radio has an extensive collection of recordings of the orchestra with world famous conductors and soloists that include Alexis Weissenberg, Jean-Pierre Rambal, Leonid Kogan, Renata Scotto, etc. Recordings also include famous Bulgarian musicians that include Mincho Minchev, Ghena Dimitrova, Alexandrina Milcheva, Vesselina Kazarova, etc.
Apart from recordings, the Symphony Orchestra has a busy schedule of concerts at home and abroad. Recently, the orchestra had successful concert tours in Germany and Spain and was invited for concerts in Marseille and Paris during the World Soccer Championship '98.
Bulgarian National Radio is housed in this handsome, modern facility.
The entrance is striking and welcoming.
