Hungary’s public news channel M1 unexpectedly went off air on Tuesday afternoon after the newly appointed interim leadership of the Media Service Support and Asset Management Fund (MTVA) announced sweeping changes at the state broadcaster.

Instead of its regular programming, viewers saw a message on screen stating:

“Public media cannot lie. We apologise for having done so for years. State media is now being overhauled so that it can be independent and credible in the future. News service is temporarily suspended. Stay tuned!”

The interruption came just hours after a dramatic leadership shake-up at MTVA headquarters.

Senior staff reportedly suspended

According to Telex, András Horváth, the newly appointed interim CEO of MTVA, arrived at the broadcaster’s headquarters on Tuesday morning with the interim management team he had selected. Several employees were reportedly summoned to the HR department and suspended from their duties with immediate effect.

Among those affected, according to the report, were:

  • veteran public television reporter Attila Császár, who was reportedly escorted from the building by two security guards;
  • Beatrix Siklósi, director of Kossuth Radio;
  • technology director Anett Olbort;
  • and chief production manager Béla Könczey.

Watch the moment the channel went quiet:

Broadcast announces suspension of ‘propaganda’

Telex also obtained footage from the M1 news broadcast in which presenter Csaba Radnai read a statement introducing the new leadership. According to the announcement, the interim management has been tasked with:

  • conducting a comprehensive review of public media operations;
  • managing the organisational transition;
  • suspending propaganda;
  • and reforming the news service so that Hungary’s public media becomes “a credible, objective and independent institution” after recent years.

Permanent leadership to be chosen later

In a statement, MTVA said the interim leadership would oversee the transition period. Once that process is complete, the organisation’s permanent leadership will be selected through an open recruitment process following professional and public consultation.

The developments come during the new Hungarian government’s restructuring of several state institutions following this year’s parliamentary election.

End of an era

The M1 screen has gone dark, and Bartók Radio’s programming can now be heard in place of Kossuth Radio. András Horváth, MTVA’s newly appointed interim CEO, and the interim professional team he assembled have immediately halted propaganda and suspended news coverage across all public media platforms, MTVA’s Press and Marketing Office told MTI on Tuesday.

They noted that Magyar Televízió began broadcasting on 1 May 1957. Over the past nearly 70 years, it has shown a black screen only during technical problems and, more rarely, upon the death of a public figure, such as when József Antall, Hungary’s first freely elected prime minister, passed away on 12 December 1993.

“Once again, the black screen symbolises the end of an era. In recent years, public media has fallen under the influence of political power and lost its primary function: providing the public with credible and objective information. Instead, it has become a forum for inciting hatred and spreading lies. That will change from now on,” the statement reads.

M1 to resume broadcasting without news coverage

According to a statement released by the Hungarian News Agency (MTI), “At 7:56 PM, M1 will temporarily resume broadcasting in a new format, featuring movies and no news coverage. Bartók Radio’s programming will be temporarily available on Kossuth Radio’s frequency, without news coverage for the time being. As the new news department is established, news programs will gradually resume on a scheduled basis. The transition will not significantly affect programming other than news coverage on other platforms.”

M4 Sport’s broadcasts, including the World Cup football matches, will continue as usual, without interruption.

Péter Magyar: Broadcasting of propaganda on public media platforms came to an end today

“A historic day. Today marked the end of propaganda broadcasts on public media platforms,” Prime Minister Péter Magyar wrote on Facebook. “They lied at night, they lied during the day, they lied on every wavelength. That’s over now.”