BNT 2 (BNT Dvе) is a Bulgarian state-owned TV channel, operated by the Bulgarian National Television. It is the successor to the defunct second program of the national television - Efir 2. Launched on October 16, 2011 the channel replaced the five regional television centers of BNT - BNT Pirin, BNT More, BNT Sever, BNT Plovdiv and BNT Sofia by combining their programmes into one. The new channel broadcasts original programs, newscasts and sporting events. The program includes a "Regional programming bloc" with local opt-out broadcasts of the former regional television centres. It also broadcasts sport events like National Basketball League (Bulgaria), volleyball (national team) and other.
History
The second programme of the Bulgarian national television was founded in 1975 and discontinued transmission on May 31, 2000, being replaced by the private bTV the following day. Efir 2's most popular programme was its weekly magazine show "Vsyaka Nedelya" (English: Every Sunday) and for broadcasting the Italian Serie A football games (which in fact were part of the same Sunday show).
At 21:10 on May 31, 2000 Efir 2 "said Good-bye!" to the Bulgarian viewers with a film, produced by Ekaterina Genova, called "Efir 2 - a photo for a memory" (Bulgarian: Ефир 2 - снимка за спомен). After this movie, Efir 2 broadcast the last news and sports reports, as well as final commercial, movie and Ricky Martin's "One night only". 40 minutes after midnight the signal of Efir 2 was switched off.
