ortt
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 20, 2010, 09:18 CET
Court rules accepting winner's bid in radio frequency tender was against law
The Budapest Municipal Court said in a first-instance ruling on Tuesday that accepting the bid by the winner of a tender in the autumn called by radio and television authority ORTT for a countrywide commercial radio frequency was against the... [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]
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 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]
December 11, 2009, 10:00 CET
ORTT to call tender for last free Budapest radio frequency
Hungary's frequencies authority ORTT on Wednesday decided to call a tender for the last free radio frequency in Budapest. A tender for the 92.9 MHz frequency is expected to be called in the middle of January and a decision could... [read complete entry]
December 10, 2009, 09:29 CET
US House condemns ORTT decisions on radio licenses
The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a non-binding resolution condemning the decision by Hungarian media authority the ORTT not to renew the licenses of two commercial radio broadcasters, one of them American. The resolution encouraging Hungary to respect... [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 09, 2009, 11:14 CET
UK business media mulls Hungarian anti-capitalism
Central Europe needs foreign investment to escape the recession, but a populist response to the crisis in Hungary is taking the country in the opposite direction, British weekly The Economist reports in its latest edition. It writes that American diplomats... [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 03, 2009, 10:17 CET
Second loser in controversial radio tender to sue broadcast regulator
Danubius Rádió will turn to the courts to appeal against the decision of the National Radio and Television Board (ORTT) on the tender that led to it losing the radio frequency licence it had held since 1997, Napi Gazdaság learnt.... [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]
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]
April 30, 2009, 09:20 CET
TV channel Viasat moves operations to UK to flee regulation
TV channel Viasat3 has moved its headquarters to the UK to avoid its obligations to provide public service broadcasts, Index.hu reports. The move comes about after a court ruling in February re-categorized the channel, obligating it to provide news and... [read complete entry]
February 12, 2009, 11:33 CET
Media authority rejects TV networks' pleas for lower broadcast fees
Hungary's media authority ORTT has rejected a plea by the two main commercial television channels, RTL Klub and TV2 for a reduction in their concession fee, ORTT said in a statement on Wednesday.... [read complete entry]
December 29, 2008, 10:11 CET
Media regulator launches TV campaign against excessive TV watching
Hungary's broadcast authority ORTT launched a TV spots campaign on Saturday to prevent children from watching TV without control, ORTT told MTI.... [read complete entry]
November 03, 2008, 03:02 CET
New media law to offer more cash in exchange for stricter controls
The two largest parliamentary parties Fidesz and MSZP are preparing the final text of a new media law to be voted in by Parliament before the end of this year, reports Index.hu. Despite aspects of the law that will curtail... [read complete entry]
July 15, 2008, 12:25 CET
Cable television stations fleeing Hungary
Television stations and the media authority point fingers at each other overy why increasing number of stations are based abroad. [read complete entry]
December 11, 2007, 11:49 CET
Media Markt fined Ft 100 million for "stupid" ad
Leading consumer electronics retailer Media Markt Saturn Holding Magyarország Kft has been slapped with a fine of Ft 100 million (roughly €400,000) by the national consumer protection authority (NFH) for an advertising campaign that poked fun at the intelligence of... [read complete entry]