Vivacom has published an official statement regarding the broadcasting of the Bulgarian national volleyball team's matches on the newly established television channel MAX One. The telecom stated that the channel's limited distribution has deprived some viewers of the opportunity to follow the national team's matches and called for a solution that would ensure wider access to the games.
The company's official statement reads:
In connection with the broadcasting of the matches of the Bulgarian national volleyball team on the newly established TV channel MAX One, which still has limited distribution, we would like to state the following:
For us, consumer interest is paramount – Vivacom stands by its customers and Bulgarian sports fans in their desire to follow and support our national teams. It is precisely for this reason that we believe the matches of national selections should be maximally accessible to the Bulgarian audience.
We remind that, according to the Radio and Television Act and a decision by the Council for Electronic Media (CEM), international matches of national teams are defined as events of significant public importance, and their broadcasting should reach at least 85% of the audience through free-to-air television.
Until now, Vivacom customers could watch the national volleyball team's matches through the channels of the additional MAX Sport Plus package. The sudden transfer of the matches to a newly created channel changed the established access model and practically deprived tens of thousands of Bulgarian viewers of the content they had been receiving through their MAX Sport Plus package subscription.
At the same time, publicly circulated claims that MAX One was offered to all operators under attractive conditions do not correspond to the facts. The channel was offered for distribution under terms that do not guarantee the interests of our customers and cannot be accepted without the necessary analysis, especially given the short deadlines imposed at the last moment.
The unexpected change of rules immediately before the start of the volleyball matches created a situation that is in neither the interest of the viewers nor the television market. We believe that such actions constitute an undesirable precedent that should not become common practice in the future.
Therefore, our focus is directed towards finding a sustainable and predictable solution through a long-term partnership, rather than temporary and partial agreements that do not guarantee security for consumers and market partners. Until a solution to the current problem is found, we propose that the national team's matches be shared for broadcasting with a television operator with national coverage, as happened last September when our men's national team won second place at the World Volleyball Championship.
We believe that when it comes to supporting the Bulgarian national teams, public interest and the citizens' right to follow their representatives' performances should take precedence over all commercial considerations. National sports unite society, and access to them should be guaranteed in a way that puts viewers first.