Bulgaria’s Nova Broadcasting names Dirk Gerkens as CEO as Zdravkova exits

Bulgaria’s Nova Broadcasting Group has appointed Dirk Gerkens as its CEO, taking over from Stefana Zdravkova.

Dirk Gerkens

Gerkens has a 25-year career in the television industry and joined Nova owner United Media in 2020 as a board member and director of programming, production and advertising sales.

Prior to joining United, Gerkens was CEO of RTL Klub and TV2 in Hungary. Nova said Gerkens has been “deeply involved” in the integration of the group since it was acquired by United in 2020.

Zdravkova has held the role of CEO since mid-2022, having previously served as CEO of Nova-owned online platform NetInfo between 2019 and 2022.

Nova is Bulgaria’s largest commercial media group and consists of 10 TV channels, including Nova TV.

Aleksandra Subotić, CEO of United Media, said: “I am confident that Dirk will secure the successful continuation of our operations at Nova Broadcasting Group as a seasoned media expert with valuable knowledge of Bulgarian market. We thank Stefana for her engagement.”