Future plans for Bulgarian television were outlined in the Sixth Five Year Plan (1971-75). Although color television programs in the 1970s were transmitted to Bulgaria from Moscow, Bulgaria's own color television was to be transmitted in late 1973. Along these lines, Bulgaria planned to collaborate with Intervision—the Eastern European television network—in the promotion of color television. In 1972 plans were also being formulated for the construction of between 250 and 300 relay stations and additional television transmitters.
In 1939 there were 2,169 books and pamphlets published in 6.5 million copies, and in 1948 there were 2,322 books and pamphlets published in 19.9 million copies. By 1960 the number of book and pamphlet titles had risen to 3,369 in 30.2 million copies, and by 1971 the number of book and pamphlet titles reached 4,188 in 46.8 million copies.
More recent studies of book and pamphlet publication conducted in 1969 and 1970 indicated that the overwhelming majority of books and pamphlets were written by Bulgarians. Of the 3,799 books published in 1970, there were 3,368 by Bulgarian authors. The foreign works during this year were predominantly in Russian, 131; French, sixty-five; English, sixty-five; and German, fifty-four. There were few books translated from Spanish and a sprinkling of translations from other lesser known languages. Of the translated works most were literary, followed by works dealing with the social sciences, the applied sciences, the arts, geography and history, the so-called hard sciences, philosophy, philology, and religion.
A 1971 study illustrates the fact that—in terms of titles alone—books are more popular than pamphlets by a ratio of approximately three to one (see table 13). The greatest number of book titles in 1971 were in the areas of artistic and folkloric literature, technology and industry, and scientific and educational texts. The smallest number of book titles were in the areas of general handbooks, community affairs, and atheism and religion. The greatest number of pamphlet titles, on the other hand, were in juvenile literature, communist party literature, and science and education. The fewest pamphlet titles dealt with atheism and religion, Marxism-Leninism, languages, and labor and trade unions.
Because the Bulgarian publishing industry has emphasized the quantity of books available in terms of copies rather than variety or number of titles, there has been some serious criticism of policy, particularly from the newspapers. In fact, among the Balkan countries, Bulgaria ranks below Yugoslavia, Romania, and Turkey in the number of titles published annually. One newspaper claimed that of the total number of books published in 1972, only approximately one-third were so-called real books, meaning that they were not simply textbooks or brochures. This newspaper claimed that foreign literature was not well known in Bulgaria and pointed out that the literature of Asia, Africa, and South America had increased by only 470 titles since 1939.
The state not only is in charge of the publishing houses themselves but also supervises the distribution of books throughout the country. Editorial councils are the final authorities in determining the output of individual publishing houses. The one exception to the general administration of publishing houses is the publication of textbooks. In this case the Committee on Art and Culture is responsible for the printing of textbooks, and the Ministry of National Education is, in turn, responsible for their distribution.
Table 13. Bulgaria, Book and Pamphlet Publication, 1971
| Subject of Publication | Total Number of Titles | Book Titles | Pamphlet Titles |
| Marxism-Leninism | 26 | 23 | 3 |
| Communist party | 270 | 158 | 112 |
| Socialist and communist construction | 181 | 97 | 84 |
| Foreign policy and economics | 94 | 74 | 20 |
| Philosophy | 70 | 52 | 18 |
| History | 147 | 121 | 26 |
| Economics | 29 | 21 | 8 |
| Production | 90 | 82 | 8 |
| Finance | 15 | 11 | 4 |
| Labor and trade unions | 55 | 39 | 16 |
| Legal and constitutional system | 73 | 53 | 20 |
| Military policy | 38 | 28 | 10 |
| Natural science and mathematics | 261 | 225 | 36 |
| Technology and industry | 490 | 415 | 75 |
| Agriculture and cooperatives | 284 | 214 | 70 |
| Trade and nutrition | 51 | 37 | 14 |
| Transportation and communications | 75 | 64 | 11 |
| Community affairs | 4 | 4 | ... |
| Health | 215 | 157 | 58 |
| Physical education and sports | 72 | 53 | 19 |
| Scientific and educational texts | 397 | 301 | 96 |
| Literary criticism | 133 | 55 | 78 |
| Art | 152 | 118 | 34 |
| Languages | 70 | 66 | 4 |
| Artistic and folkloric literature | 609 | 534 | 75 |
| Juvenile literature | 277 | 146 | 131 |
| Atheism and religion | 8 | 7 | 1 |
| General handbooks | 2 | 2 | ... |
| TOTAL | 4,188 | 3,157 | 1,031 |
The party is the final arbiter regarding the acceptability of work for publication. All party control, however, is theoretically unofficial; censorship exists only in the sense that all power of decision regarding publication is in the hands of party members. The official process for publication is that the writer submits his work to the publishing house. The publishing house then sends it, with a brief description of its ideological content, to the Committee on Art and Culture. If the book is approved at this stage, it is returned to the publishing house, where it is again checked for its ideological content.