Wings over Bulgaria

The day Emmis International announced its Bulgarian expansion exercise the big news in Sofia was not about radio, TV, new media or even a left over corruption story. EasyJet, the Greek Santa Claus, is comin’ to town. From Riga to Prague, Tallinn to Budapest the sight of the orange 737’s and A319’s’s means the arrival of that EU benefit.

Emmis International picked up Inforadio, its third national radio license in a marketplace already jam-packed with big name media companies. News International has a television channel. SBS/ProSieben has radio and television stations. Communicorp is there with radio channels. WAZ is heavily invested in the Bulgarian newspaper market.

The attraction for media powers is consumer spending and ad growth. Bulgaria and its sister new EU Member States are experiencing double digit annual ad growth rates and, for some, the experience is expected to continue at these rates for another decade.

EasyJets’ one daily London-Sofia flight won’t add more magic to the Bulgarian media market. In truth, they spend very little…at first. By the time Prague had five EasyJets flights a day an entire industry grew up around servicing the hundreds of rowdy Brits and Germans. The ‘EasyJet Effect’ can mean hundreds of million of euros.

In an interesting twist on conventional economic wisdom, ad spending growth rates tend to lead consumer spending growth rates in developing economies. For developed economies the rule is reversed; ad spending rates lag consumer spending. It’s actually quite logical. Marketers rush into developing economies, betting on future value, heating up consumer spending. The limit, in economic terms, is maturity. As a country’s economy matures ad spending is fed less on aspiration and more on pure cash. The arrival of EasyJet is, then, a benchmark.

Emmis International also owns Radio FM+ and Radio Fresh, purchased in a package deal from GCap Media (UK) in 2005, completed in late 2006 with the buy-out of a minority shareholder. SBS/ProSiebenSat operates television channel bTV and four radio stations, the most recent purchase – Radio Express – in 2006. Communicorp adsorbed four stations in the Metromedia purchase in 2004.

Financial details of the Inforadio transaction were not disclosed. In September 2007 the station’s audience share was 0.7% according to Alpha Research. Michael Hedges - December 18, 2007

Keywords:media in Romania, Emmis International

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