Hungary’s public broadcaster says its interim leadership has saved almost HUF 7 billion (around EUR 17 million) during its first two weeks in charge, while launching a comprehensive financial and organisational review and preparing a major overhaul of programming.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the Media Service Support and Asset Management Fund (MTVA) said the interim management, which took over on 7 July, had begun examining tens of thousands of pages of contracts and internal documents as part of a broad audit.
According to the statement, the leadership’s priorities include ending political propaganda, rebuilding independent and objective news services, reviewing the organisation’s finances and preparing for structural changes required under Hungary’s recently amended media law.
Contracts under review
MTVA said it has started reviewing high-value production and IT contracts, including agreements involving politically connected companies. The broadcaster said some contracts had raised suspicions that they did not reflect their genuine economic purpose. It added that legal action would be taken if detailed investigations confirm any wrongdoing.
The organisation also announced that it had cancelled programme production contracts worth almost HUF 3 billion for the remainder of the year, describing the affected productions as wasteful or professionally unjustified. According to MTVA, decisions were based on audience figures, value for money, the performance of external production companies and whether programmes could be produced more efficiently in-house.
Football rights extended at lower cost
The interim management also said it had extended the agreement with the Hungarian Football Federation (MLSZ) for broadcasting top-flight NB I football matches for one year.
According to MTVA, the extension was agreed at a cost HUF 4 billion lower than under the previous contract, while leaving long-term strategic decisions to the broadcaster’s future permanent leadership. The broadcaster added that a review of its long-term cycling broadcasting rights is still ongoing.
More archive content and returning programmes
MTVA said nearly 30 hours of Hungarian films and archive programming are now broadcast daily across its television and radio channels.
The M1 television channel is currently operating with a temporary schedule featuring classic Hungarian productions alongside news programming. Meanwhile, Kossuth Radio has restored several traditional features, including the daily noon church bells, and expanded its cultural programming.
The broadcaster also announced plans to bring back almost 100 programmes in its autumn schedule. These will include cultural, educational, religious and minority-interest programmes, as well as returning audience favourites such as Magyarország, szeretlek! (“Hungary, I Love You!”), Család-barát (“Family Friendly”) and Családi kör (“Family Circle”).
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Audience figures increase
MTVA also reported higher viewing figures during the past two weeks. According to the broadcaster, the combined daily audience share of its television channels increased by 49% compared with the same period last year, while prime-time viewing rose by 61%.
The organisation said the increase was not solely due to M4 Sport’s coverage of the FIFA World Cup, noting that Duna, Duna World/M4 Sport+ and M5 also recorded stronger audience shares. It added that M1 reached an average of more than one million viewers per day during the period.
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Public media restructuring underway
The overhaul follows amendments to Hungary’s media law adopted on 23 June, which provide for the merger of MTVA into Duna Media Service.
The merger will create a new organisation, Magyar Rádió és Televízió Nonprofit Ltd. (Hungarian Radio and Television). Under the legislation, employees working in programme production and supporting roles will transfer automatically to the new entity, while the organisation will have 90 days after the merger to unify its branding and operations.
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