Forbes Bulgaria’s video leap: From TV visibility to building a YouTube strategy

Being part of a world-famous brand gives you a strong head start. Yes, it does! They had a clear identity, serious business audience and strong editorial standards. The goal was to grow revenue in partnership with a leading TV station in Bulgaria, boost visibility and build a stronger future for Forbes Bulgaria through video. They got a regular TV segment on the TV’s weekend morning show, where their business stories were broadcast as part of the program in a 10-minute slot. Two business stories, each lasting up to 5 minutes, presenting business success of companies and individuals who had a vision, an idea and had something to show. Partnership with one of the biggest and most popular TV media outlet in Bulgaria gave them visibility and helped them reach a broader audience.

From Print To Video – Learning By Doing

It was a learning process: creating TV content, implementing attractive storytelling, following Forbes’ guidelines, giving videos a unique visual signature, while still preserving a natural feel. Acknowledging what they didn’t know, they engaged a production company, which helped not only in a technical sense but also as part of the learning process, much like the TV partner, whose constant feedback supported quality and results. And it worked! Forbes managed to keep the TV audience engaged. The segment performed consistently well, holding viewer attention at a level on par with the rest of the morning show’s content. This was a strong indication that the format worked and that business content can keep people watching even in a morning TV environment. One of the key strengths of the project was that the TV experience also helped the team sharpen their video storytelling, adapt to production routines, and build confidence, which is especially important for a newsroom that had traditionally grown through print and web.

The YouTube “aha” Moment

 

Thanks to the advice of our mentor, we were able to pivot from the initial concept for video content distribution and explore additional channel for video content, which proved to be with even higher potential – YouTube.”– Polina Georgieva

While TV gave Forbes a powerful platform, YouTube became the place where they realised they could build something long-term and fully theirs. They started treating YouTube as a channel where they had to gain understanding and skills to adapt to different audience habits, different pacing, and different formats. They published videos created for TV’s rubric but used their conferences as well to repurpose and make them visually more appealing. They got additional support from the project with training on YouTube content creation, SEO and visual branding.

New Habits, Workflows And Consistency

During the project, the team created a more organised workflow for uploading content and planned video production more strategically. After years of selling advertising for print and online editions, the sales team became more aware of video as a new product and how to position it in their offer for a new revenue stream and a long-term commercial product. They even experienced with AI driven tools for automatised transcription of short videos in the Bulgarian language and alphabet.

The impact of the Shorts was immediate. Filming during the photoshoots for the Forbes cover, soundbites from conferences (Forbes Women Conference, Forbes Innovation Forum), selections and special projects such as: 30 Under 30 and Men on Top. In the last quarter of 2025, Forbes went from almost no Shorts output to publishing 44 Shorts (compared to only 2 before that). Those Shorts brought nearly 19,000 views in just three months, while longer videos brought around 12,000 views per quarter on average. 

Videos Are A Part Of The Business Model Now

That shift from “we post when we can” to “we have a system” is what turns a storage facility (what YouTube was for them) into a real channel with growing regular audience and commercial potential. Video became a product and a part of the business model, not just content. In 2026, it is already prominently included in Forbes’ sales packages, which means YouTube and digital video are now seen as a real part of the business offer and not just an experiment. In addition to shorts, they are developing longer entrepreneurial stories that integrate product positioning and are designed specifically for their digital channels, planning a weekly business video podcast to expand their format mix and grow consistent audience engagement. Overall, these steps reflect a clear shift toward video as a long-term, scalable content and revenue stream.

And that’s the whole point: Forbes didn’t just join a project, but after a year of mentorship, learning and pivoting, they became confident in what they do and have built something that will keep working in the future.

NUMBERS:

• YouTube channel growth in subscribers: + 50% 
• 4.6 million pageviews achieved: 10% growth
• 3.6 million readers reached by the end of the project: 95% growth
• 44 YouTube Shorts published in Q4 2025, bringing ~19,000 views in 3 months

This mentorship process was conducted as a part of the Business Innovation Synergizer programme through the Media Innovation Europe project.

Business Innovation Synergizer is implemented by Thomson Media as a part of Media Innovation Europe led by the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI), the consortium brings together Thomson Media (TM),  The Fix Foundation (TFF), and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN). The programme is co-funded by the European Union.