broadcast media
March 02, 2010, 09:49 CET
TV2 hit with stiff fine for show with celebrity criminals
Hungarian commercial television channel TV2 has been fined Ft 35 million for broadcasting a program featuring several well-known celebrities with criminal convictions, writes origo.hu. The five episodes of celebrity dinner show "Hal a tortán" spotlighted stars who had served jail... [read complete entry]
January 27, 2010, 10:20 CET
EBU could scrap all services if Hungarian public TV fails to pay off debt
The European Broadcasting Union has told Hungary's cash-strapped public television company MTV that if it fails to pay off its debt to the organisation then the EBU would consider withdrawing all services including news-exchange and sport broadcasting rights, MTV's media... [read complete entry]
January 06, 2010, 08:14 CET
Budapest court rules against controversial awarding of radio frequencies
The radio frequencies tender of last autumn held by media watchdog the National Radio and Television Board (ORTT) was unlawful, the Municipal Court ruled on Tuesday. The verdict is open to appeal. Class FM and Neo FM were granted national... [read complete entry]
January 04, 2010, 09:41 CET
Listed media group econet to seek capital raise to finance acquisitions
Hungarian IT-cum-media company econet.hu has called an EGM for February 1, 2010 in order to discuss extending the expiring authority of the company's management to conduct a capital increase, the business daily Napi Gazdasag reported on Thursday. Napi Gazdasag wrote... [read complete entry]
December 17, 2009, 10:13 CET
Hungarian media authority slams US Congress resolution on radio licenses
Hungary's top media authority ORTT declared in a statement on Wednesday that the US House of Representatives' recent resolution indirectly condemning Hungary was unfounded. "The resolution is not supported by facts; it is based on scattered media reports," the statement... [read complete entry]
December 15, 2009, 08:46 CET
Investigations stepped up over controversial MTV headquarters building
An ongoing police enquiry into the contract signed for the new headquarters of national broadcaster MTV may be expanded to include investigators from the Prosecutor General's Office. This past weekend, Fidesz filed a complaint with the Prosecutor's Office against an... [read complete entry]
December 14, 2009, 10:23 CET
Survey finds few Hungarians tuning in to radio news
Three out of every four adult Hungarians listen to radio on a regular basis, while every eighth has the radio turned on for 4 to 6 hours daily, but few listen to the news, according to an Ipsos survey published... [read complete entry]
December 11, 2009, 10:28 CET
Fidesz delegate to ORTT responds to US Congressional move on radio licenses
Annamária Szalai, Fidesz delegate on the media watchdog body ORTT, hit back at US legislators after the House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the ORTT’s refusal to renew the licenses of two radio broadcasters. In a Thursday statement, Szalai... [read complete entry]
November 25, 2009, 11:48 CET
Hungarian state broadcaster MTV in crisis following subsidy cut
State television channel MTV has no money to pay wages or the rent on its office because it will not receive any supplementary subsidy from next year's budget, MTV executives announced after a crisis meeting yesterday. Parliament on Monday voted... [read complete entry]
November 24, 2009, 09:01 CET
Outgoing media board president to make legal challenges to radio tenders
Outgoing media watchdog ORTT president László Majtényi will go to the prosecutor's office and also initiate a legal review regarding the controversial outcome of the recent national commercial radio frequency tender. Majtényi said on Monday that he believes the procedure... [read complete entry]
November 23, 2009, 09:12 CET
US owner of Sláger Radio announces departure from Hungary
The US owner of commercial pop radio station Slager, which has recently lost its frequency, will leave Hungary, the Hungarian subsidiary's chief executive Edina Heal told MTI on Friday. Slager had already been in talks with Roxy Radio about using... [read complete entry]
November 18, 2009, 09:09 CET
Hungary's national radio stations prepare to sign off as new licenses begin
New commercial radio stations Neo FM and Klassz FM will begin broadcasts at midnight tonight, after the National Communications Authority issued licences to them on Tuesday. They will broadcast on frequencies currently used by foreign-owned Sláger and Danubius – the... [read complete entry]
November 17, 2009, 08:34 CET
Commercial channel TV2 projects big fall in revenue for this year
Commercial television channel TV2 projects a revenue fall of 17pc or HUF 4bn for 2009, the business daily Napi Gazdasag reported on Monday, quoting commercial manager Krisztian Kovacs. Mr Kovacs said the company's turnover moved in line with the trend... [read complete entry]
November 16, 2009, 12:31 CET
Antenna Hungaria signs broadcast contracts for new national radio stations
Terrestrial broadcaster Antenna Hungaria has signed a contract for the analogue broadcasting of two commercial FM radio frequencies recently awarded to Advenio and the Est Media Group-led FM1 consortium, the companies announced in a joint statement on Monday. ORTT, Hungary's... [read complete entry]
November 09, 2009, 11:03 CET
Hungarian "radio war" continues as Sláger looks to new frequencies
Sláger Rádió may continue broadcasting on 12 frequencies across Hungary owned by Rádió 1 from the middle of November. A Ft 2 billion contract was reportedly signed by Sláger owner Emmis Communications and Rádió 1. Sláger CEO Edina Heal neither... [read complete entry]
November 02, 2009, 11:11 CET
Media regulator refuses to sign controversial radio contracts
Departing National Radio and Television Board (ORTT) president László Majtényi on Friday announced that he will not sign the contracts of recent radio frequency tender winners Advenio and FM1 consortium. “The Fidesz and Socialist media authority members who helped their... [read complete entry]
October 30, 2009, 10:24 CET
Media watchdog head resigns, citing political interference in radio deals
National Radio and Television Board (ORTT) president László Majtényi resigned on Thursday, one day after the results of the radio frequency tender were announced. Numerous reports suggested that the Socialists and Fidesz had agreed to divide the two frequencies used... [read complete entry]
October 28, 2009, 02:27 CET
Media regulator chairman cries foul as leading radio networks lose licenses
Hungary's national body in charge of awarding frequencies ORTT has rejected bids by incumbent pop-music stations Slager Radio and Danubius Radio to operate for the next seven years, ORTT announced on Wednesday. It has awarded the two key frequencies to... [read complete entry]
October 27, 2009, 09:49 CET
Number of digital radio stations in Hungary up to 13
People living in Budapest and its environs can now listen to 13 digital radio stations, since leading commercial stations Danubius Rádió and Juventus Rádió have both announced they are including their programs in the test run of the ground-wave digital... [read complete entry]
September 30, 2009, 10:05 CET
Est Media joins bidding for nationwide-wide radio broadcast frequencies
A consortium of Est Media Group (EMG) and its radio station radiocafe 98.6 on Monday submitted a bid for one of Hungary's two country-wide broadcast frequencies, the companies' parent, econet.hu, said late on Monday. If the FM1 Consortium wins the... [read complete entry]
September 28, 2009, 09:39 CET
Ailing state broadcaster MTV axes external production deals
State television channel MTV is terminating all of its programmes that are made by independent production firms due to a lack of funds and will produce its own magazine programmes as of today. MTV’s flagship political talk show “Nap-kelte” aired... [read complete entry]
July 07, 2009, 09:53 CET
RTL Klub hit with half-day blackout by media regulator over pedophile show
Hungary's media watchdog ORTT ordered RTL Klub, the country's most popular TV network, to shut down for half a day after it broadcast a talk show about pedophiles in its afternoon programming. The authority also complained that the show, which... [read complete entry]
May 18, 2009, 10:27 CET
Radio ad spend plummets in Hungary as companies focus on "big media"
Spending on radio advertising plunged HUF 1bn -- about one-third of total spending for radio spots -- in January-April because of the economic crisis, business daily Vilaggazdasag reported on Friday. Ad revenue has fallen so sharply that some of Hungary's... [read complete entry]