Dirk Gerkens turns 30-year history of Nova Broadcasting Group into a journey toward the future, says Forbes Bulgaria in its new issue

Launched as a small regional broadcaster with an uncertain future 30 years ago, a Bulgarian media company has become the major player on the local market. Today, Nova Broadcasting Group is achieving its peak performance while being managed by the seasoned TV executive. Dirk Gerkens, who successfully combines his leadership role as CEO of Nova Broadcasting Group and Board Member and Director for Programming, Production and Advertising Sales at United Media (part of United Group). Gerkens has been deeply involved in the integration of the Bulgarian company after it was acquired by the leading telecommunication and media operator in Southeast Europe, United Group, in 2021.

Prior to joining United Media, Dirk Gerkens was CEO of RTL Klub and TV2 in Hungary. His career began at Bertelsmann Book Club in Barcelona in 1992, and three years later he continued his development at Luxembourg-based television company CLT, which eventually became RTL. “When an opportunity opens up in television, it’s not a train you want to miss,” he says today. Gerkens worked on a cable channel project in Poland, while RTL won one of the two national frequencies in Hungary. In 2001, he took over the management of RTL and was in that post for 15 years. He then managed direct competitor TV2 for three years, between 2015 and 2019.

Brussels-born Dirk Gerkens is half-German and half-Spanish. But it’s hardly just the wealth of genes that underpins his success in developing the media companies he runs. He knows the DNA of the media business to perfection. At TV2, he started with three cable channels and, when he left, there were 14. At RTL, he managed 8 TV channels. In Bulgaria, Nova Broadcasting Group has a rich portfolio that includes the leading poly-thematic TV NOVA, 10 niche TV channels, four radio stations, the largest local online publisher, currently managing over 20 websites and digital platforms, as well as two newspapers. The focus of Gerkens is on further developing and expending content across all platforms.

In recent years, NOVA has managed to gain a categorical lead among viewers aged 18-59. According to the official people metric data, the current interest in primetime formats Your Face Sounds Familiar, Desafio Bulgaria, Hell`s Kitchen, Big Brother and Powers Couple is huge.”Last year we achieved absolute records of the media`s history. This fall’s results so far look even better – in the first full month of the season (October) NOVA marked 33,9% audience share among the active age population (18-59) in the most watched TV time (7 pm– 11 pm), while the second TV channel in the ranking recorded just 20.6%. With the achieved distance of more than 13 percentage points, NOVA reports a record lead over the second TV player on the Bulgarian market. Net Info’s sites are also growing in terms of reach and engagement, reaching 88.8% of internet users in 2024” – Gerkens points out.

The digital portfolio of Nova Broadcasting Group is managed trough Net Info – an integrated company dedicated to digital viewership, engagement and monetization. All formats and TV brands are converted to highly engaging digital content, distributed through ecosystem of owned sites.

Asked about Nova Broadcasting Group’s “magic recipe”, Gerkens refers to the broad portfolio and focus on entertainment programmes mixes that targets a young viewership. This in turn makes the company more attractive to advertisers. Recently, NOVA was awarded the QUDAL premium quality medal by winning the most votes in a survey focusing on Generation Z and Millennials, which was conducted by global certification group ICERTIAS. “This is the hardest audience to attract. We are working with our digital company Net Info to improve the relationship between TV programmes and digital platforms,” Gerkens comments, noting that ” one of the main goals of Net Info is to grow TV results, targeting young audiences in their natural habitat – social media and streaming platforms. Our products have great results even on a difficult territory, like TikTok, where Hell’s Kitchen Bulgaria has more than 360 thousand followers. Digital is what creates the engagement level for the TV viewers. Example for that is Big Brother, where the audience is choosing scenarios for the TV live. More than 80k unique users voted in NOVA’s mobile app on the last quest and they will grow” NOVA’s reality formats have official podcasts, and some have additional series produced for the digital space.

“NOVA wrote much of the history of Bulgarian television after the fall of communism in the country,” says Dirk Gerkens, who finds the company’s achievements remarkable. And he points out that the broadcaster was the first to create a Sales House. “This allowed the company to be the exclusive sales representative of other TV channel groups. Over the years we have successfully established this model and the portfolio has expanded significantly” – says Gerkens. Nova Broadcasting Group is currently responsible for the advertising sales of a total of 25 TV channels (11 owned and 14 represented). With a 49% aggregate average daily audience share (18-59), the company`s group of 25 channels reported a record high result among all other October months in its television history.

Last year, the company also opened Bulgaria`s first, one-of-its-kind new-generation electronic media complex on an area of nearly 17,000 square meters. Standing at the center of the news studio, Gerkens explains that the project took several years. “There were two processes going on in parallel – the construction of the building itself and the technology provision.” As Gerkens had already introduced innovative technological solutions for the editorials in the past, he equipped Nova’s studios with the latest technologies you can find in a studio today.

A proponent of precision programming and forward-thinking advertising sales, Dirk Gerkens is confident that Nova Broadcasting Group will continue to grow. “That’s why we invest in content – new series, exclusive sporting events, local and international formats, and high-quality news. Given changing viewing habits and decreasing of linear TV viewership and their migrating to the digital platforms, part of our investment is in new digital products and technological innovation. We also developed a new commercial policy as, for the first time, we are in a situation where demand far exceeds supply,” he elaborates.

He adds that NOVA continues to produce series in almost all genres and supports the country’s film industry. He emphasizes the quality of the productions and believes that “Bulgarian content is competitive in Europe”. “The Hunt for Salamander,” which is the most-awarded Bulgarian TV series, is now available on MAX platform and has won more than 10 awards, including Best TV Series at the Madrid Film Festival in 2021. And The Devil’s Throat had its world premiere and is distributed in Central and Eastern Europe by AXN.

When we ask Gerkens if it is true that the Bulgarian media company is the crown jewel of United Media, he confirms that Nova Broadcasting Group is a very important asset. “Each of the markets in which the group is present is different, each with its own specificities, but a strict separation of the business management from the editorial guarantees editorial independence and this applies to all markets” – he adds.  Not only in the Balkans, but across the world, the TV audiences want to be well-informed, which requires quality journalism, but also to be entertained with first-class programmes and major sporting events, he continues saying. He believes that the role of journalists will become increasingly important in the context of fighting disinformation and “professional journalists are needed to check facts, to help people access verified information in a world, that is moving extremely fast”. According to annual reports by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, NOVA news is the leading source of information for online and offline media in Bulgaria, and for the first time in the history of Bulgarian television journalism, NOVA was nominated for an Emmy Award in the News and Current Affairs category.

„Nova’s success is not a given, looking at the transformation the tv and entertainment industry has undergone the past decade. And still there are challenges, which need to be tackled such as the high content piracy rate in Bulgaria. The illegal distribution of TV programmes requires the implementation of clear rules, as not only broadcasters suffer, but also established broadcasters and ultimatively the state budget“, he adds. “All the revenues from piracy activity go to illegal broadcasters, who carry out unfair commercial activities,” Gerkens said. “Last year Bulgaria was again blacklisted by the US for lack of progress in the fight against piracy and intellectual property violations. Another concern of the industry is the way the ban on gambling advertising was introduced, with a very harmful side-effect on the media industry. “To ban gambling advertisement completely in the traditional media but allow it on social media and outdoor channels does not make sense and even worse, has a strong negative impact on television, that finances quality programs through advertising revenues. The sudden restrictions in the Gambling Act, without the necessary discussion with the industry, contravened the Bulgarian Constitution and were not in line with European Union law.“ Dirk Gerkens notes that the industry organisation of Bulgarian Radio and Television Broadcasters, ABBRO, has already submitted a complaint to the European Commission. Gerkens explains why this is such sensitive matter “This is not only about advertisement revenues that media companies will be losing. This is about significantly weakening media plurality in Bulgaria, and we are determined to address the damages that these sudden changes are about to cause to independent quality journalism.”

Although Gerkens is proud for what Nova Broadcasting Group has achieved, he says “you should always be look ahead and don’t rest on your laurels- success shouldn’t lull us to sleep but keep our eyes open to the unexplored heights.”