By 1971 there were 963 periodicals with an annual circulation of 48.6 million, roughly tripling the pre-World War II figures. Periodicals were an extremely popular form of reading material.
Among the leading periodicals of Bulgaria are: _Novo Vreme_, a monthly journal of the Central Committee; _Ikonomicheska Misal_, the organ of the Institute of Economics of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences; _Puls_, a publication of the Central Committee of the Komsomol; _Slavyani_, the monthly journal of the Slav Committee in Bulgaria; _Bulgarski Voin_, the monthly journal of the chief political department of the Bulgarian People's Army (Bulgarska Narodna Armiya); _Resorts_, a bimonthly journal printed in Russian, French, English, and German; and _Lov i Ribolov_.
In 1939 there were three radio stations and over 60,000 subscribers (see table 12). Approximately one out of every 100 Bulgarian citizens owned a radio set.
_Table 12. Bulgaria, Number of Radio Stations and Subscribers, Selected Years, 1939-71_
----------------------------+--------+---------+-----------+----------- | 1939 | 1948 | 1960 | 1971 ----------------------------+--------+---------+-----------+----------- Radio stations: | | | | Mediumwave | n.a. | n.a. | 5 | 12 Shortwave | n.a. | n.a. | 2 | 4 Ultra-shortwave | n.a. | n.a. | 0 | 11 Number of radio stations | 3 | 5 | 7 | 27 Number of relay stations | n.a. | 41 | 1,347 | 1,835 Number of radio subscribers | 62,677 | 210,366 | 1,430,653 | 2,304,567 Number of radio receivers | 62,677 | 201,866 | 868,950 | 1,546,163 Subscribers* | 10 | 30 | 182 | 269 ----------------------------+--------+---------+-----------+----------- n.a.--not available. * Per 1,000 population.
As of March 26, 1948, the state controlled not only the management of radio stations and the content of radio programs but also the manufacture, distribution, and sale of radio equipment. The ownership and operation of radios were subject to the chief directorate of radio information according to the Law on Radio. Article 15 of this law stated that private homes could only receive programs of Bulgarian radio stations. Article 17 of the same law stated that all people wishing to purchase radios had to receive prior authorization and pay a radio tax.