NMHH Media Council: HUF 103.2 million for local and regional television productions

Published: 22 September 2017

Based on this week’s decision of the Media Council, twenty local and regional television stations will receive grants for the production of news, current affairs and cultural programs in the Hungarian Media Patronage programme’s latest round of tenders. The council accepted the report of the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH) according to which an average daily amount of two hundred television sponsorship advertisements were aired over the first six months of the year, most of which were related to the construction industry. They also approved the semi-annual reports of the co-regulatory organizations. The analysis prepared by the Hungarian Advertising Self-Regulatory Board in the framework of the reports showed that there was an insignificant amount of concerning content in the food advertisements for children.

One year-long production grants for local and regional television stations

The Media Council will grant a total of HUF 103.2 million to twenty local and regional television stations in the second round of this year’s tenders under the Hungarian Media Patronage programme for the financing of regular television programs. There were nine successful applicants in the current affairs program category: Szentgál, Baranya and Kiskőrös Television, City TV and Centrum TV of Budapest, Városi TV of Mohács, Móra-Net TV of Mórahalom, Globo Television of Szerencs as well as the Komló és Térsége Television. Successful applications for the support of news programs were submitted by the Debrecen, Miskolc and Ipoly Televisions, the television stations of Zalaegerszeg and Kecskemét, Városi Televízió of Kalocsa and Csaba TV of Békéscsaba. Városi Televízió of Szombathely and Mezőtúr, TV Eger and 7.TV. of Békéscsaba will receive funds for the production of cultural programs. The Media Council wishes to encourage the development of the diverse local media market through the grants.

TV viewers are exposed to an average daily amount of two hundred sponsor messages

The analysis of NMHH revealed that the highest number of firms – a total of 83 – were featured as sponsors in TV2’s morning current affairs show entitled ‘Mokka’ and the most sponsor messages – a total of 12,822 – appeared in relation to the channel’s weather report. The most frequently appearing sponsor firm was Új Ház Centrum Zrt. with 2,229 advertisements, followed by Fundamenta Lakáskassza Zrt. (1,795) and Leier Hungária Kft. (1,676). In the period under review, 1,534 sponsor messages of over a thousand firms appeared on 67,049 occasions. TV2 featured the highest number of sponsor messages, however the 30,198 appearances represented a twenty-five percent lower rate than the 39,961 advertisements measured in the same period of the previous year. The number of sponsorship advertisements showed a huge increase in the case of RTL Klub, with last year’s figures of 13,982 rising to 19,911 in this year. No considerable changes can be noted in the case of Duna TV, with 4,285 advertisements aired in the first half of this year after last year’s rate of 4,277. Spot ads on prizes and winnings were aired in 55 programs, making up 11 percent of all sponsorship advertisements. Sponsorship of this nature was mainly related to Mokka (920) and the majority of prizes were offered by the recreation sector – with a total of 1,722 winnings.

In the first half of 2017, the authority examined the sponsor messages of national commercial television stations with the highest ratings, including RTL Klub and TV2 as well as those aired in the programs of the public service station Duna TV, with the sample including one month each from the M4 Sport, ATV, RTL II, Sport2, SuperTV2 and the Viasat3 channels. The study can be read in its entirety on the NMHH website in Hungarian.

Appropriate food advertisements for children

The Media Council has approved the reports of the co-regulatory organizations from the first half of 2017. The Media Act provides for the existence of the co-regulatory system, therefore, the Media Council cooperates with self-regulatory organizations in order to encourage voluntary compliance and to fulfill the objectives and principles of legislation pertaining to media governance. Under the authority granted by the Media Council and with its financial support, the professional organizations perform administrative functions without the powers of a public authority while the Media Council supervises the performance of the tasks at hand. The organizations may conduct research in the framework of the agreements. The recently approved reports include the analysis of the Hungarian Advertising Self-Regulatory Board (ÖRT) on food advertisements for children which, apart from the manufacturers, extended its scope to the advertisements of food chain stores.

The board reviewed all the relevant television and newspaper advertisements published in the first half of 2017: this consisted of 126 commercials aired on 37 television channels and 267 advertisements published in 64 printed publications. The analysis was concluded with positive results: all advertisements adhered to ÖRT’s Behavioral Codex, thus this resulted in a hundred percent adequacy rate, as none of the examined advertisements were deemed to be harmful and only two were found to be concerning – this represents only a half percent. The study will be available in its entirety on the ÖRT website.

Radio-related decisions

The Media Council has requested additional information from LB Rádió Kft. in the tendering procedure of the Keszthely 99.4 MHz local commercial radio frequency. The council previously denied registering the offer of the other bidder, Helikon Rádió Kft., due to its formal invalidity and although the bidder submitted a request for the judicial review of the order, the court dismissed the claim. The Media Council continues the tendering procedure for the Nagykanizsa 95.6 MHz, Kaposvár 99.9 MHz and Veszprém 90.6 MHz local radio frequencies after the court dismissed the request for review of Helikon Rádió Kft. and Regionális Rádió Kft.