When it was initially launched, the channel was called simply Bulgarian Television (Българска телевизия), as it was the only channel available. When a second state-owned channel was started in 1974, it was renamed to First Programme (Първа програма), and later to "BT 1" (БТ 1) (with BT still referring to Bulgarian Television). In 1991, BT 1 and BT 2 were given separate visual designs and were renamed respectively to Channel 1 (Канал 1) and Efir 2 (Ефир 2). In this period, the channel was also referred to as BNT Channel 1 (Канал 1 на БНТ), to show that it was operated by the BNT. On 14 September 2008 BNT Channel 1 changed its name once more, this time to "BNT 1" in an effort to put all BNT channels under a single banner (e.g., the Plovdiv TV Channel will become BNT Plovdiv). The second BNT channel called BNT2 broadcasts the local programming of the former four regional TV centres, and broadcasts nationally. BNT1 airs sports like the UEFA Europa League along with bTV Action and RING. The channel, along with TV7 holds the rights to the Bulgarian Football Championship.
BNT 1, along with its sister channel BNT 2 and the HDTV channel BNT HD holds the rights for the Euro and the Olympics.
