Media Council: Grants for seven new online videos and series confirmed by the János Neumann tender

Published: 18 January 2018

Funding totaling close to HUF 7 million has been awarded to the winners of the first round of last year’s János Neumann tender announced by the Media Council of the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH); patronage program tender announced for script writing and film draft development. Hatoscsatorna fined at HUF 175,000 for surreptitious advertising; successful closure to one radio tender in Miskolc and another in Szolnok.

Grants for films

Six applicants from Hungary and one outside the country received grants totaling HUF 6.9 million in the first 2017 round of the János Neumann tender of the Hungarian Media Patronage programme. As a result, the third episode of the online series Tiltott kastélyok (Forbidden Castles) will be available at magyaridok.hu/videoriport to guide viewers in and around Küküllővár. The portal will also have a new online series entitled Vízben élő gyógyerő (Water’s Healing Power) to promote the benefits of eating Hungarian fish by showcasing the habitats of fish in Hungarian natural and artificial bodies of water. A 5-episode series entitled Vaszary János 150 is in the making for the online site of Ceglévi TV to commemorate the 150th birthday of one of the most successful and most popular 20th century Hungarian painters using five pieces of his artwork as illustrations. The video column of Index.hu will host the series Magyarország történeteken át (Stories Across Hungary) where the site of the story told in one episode will designate the destination of the next episode. Two pieces of online content will be made for the online interface of Echo TV. M1 Budapest will portray the 11 stops of Budapest metro line M1 while the series Megfigyelt Budapest (Budapest Under Surveillance) will tell the story of five typical operations by the state security agency of the Kádár Era. Funding was also awarded to the second season of the short film Borvizek, tájak, székelyek (Wine Waters, Regions, Szeklers) by a Transylvanian applicant to be available on the online interface of Filmdzsungel Stúdió. The new three episodes will portray the natural wonders of Békás-szoros, Hagymás-hegység and Gyergyó.

Applicants can submit their electronic-only bids for the Lajos Egri script-writing and film draft development tender worth HUF 10 million by 22 February. As described in the tender announcement, up to HUF 1 million is awarded for writing a script of a television film, animation and their series while film draft development projects can receive funding up to HUF 2.5 million each.

The Media Council provides a grant of HUF 500,000 to the winner of the student category of the László Kovács and Vilmos Zsigmond Hungarian Cinematographer Award replacing the Aranyszem Cinematographer Competition.

Penalties for surreptitious advertising

Based on the targeted investigation of television health magazine programmes by NMHH, the Media Council concluded that the April and May 2017 broadcasts of hatoscsatorna aired surreptitious advertising and consequently the media service provider of the channel received a fine of HUF 175,000. The infringing advertisements were broadcast in the programmes Alternatív, Egészségpercek Tihanyi Tamással and Herbadoctor a total of 35 times during the period under investigation including premiers and reruns. When imposing a fine, the Media Council always determines the form and extent of the penalties with due consideration to all the circumstances of the specific case and employing the principle of progressiveness and proportionality.

Radio decisions

The Media Council awarded B.-A.-Z. Megye Betegeiért Alapítvány as the winner of the Miskolc 103.0 MHz regional community radio tender, as a result of which Csillagpont Rádió, currently broadcasting at 94.0 MHz, will be “moved” to the awarded frequency. The Szolnok 90.4 MHz local radio tender was won by the single bidder LB Rádió Kft., which plans to start its commercial media service under the name 90.4 Rádió 1.

As requested by Magyar Katolikus Rádió Zrt., the Media Council extends the district radio media service broadcasting licence of the following radio stations by 5 years until the Spring of 2023: Székesfehérvár 96.1 MHz, Budapest 102.1 MHz, Esztergom 92.5 MHz, Vác 87.9 MHz, Veszprém 94.6 MHz, Mór 89.0 MHz, Sárbogárd 96.6 MHz, Tapolca 101.8 MHz, Kiskőrös 91.7 MHz, Kalocsa 94.5 MHz, Dunaföldvár 104.1 MHz, Szekszárd 102.5 MHz, Pécs 101.2 MHz, Komló 91.4 MHz, Szombathely 107.4 MHz, Zalaegerszeg 92.9 MHz and Sopron 104.6 MHz.

As requested by the service providers, the Council agreed to create a networked media service from the district radio media service licences Tokaj 101.8 MHz of Hegyalja Média Kft. and Eger 91.8 MHz, Gyöngyös 102.2 MHz, Hatvan 94.0 MHz, Miskolc 95.1 MHz, Encs 95.4 MHz and Sátoraljaújhely 90.6 MHz of Magyar Katolikus Rádió Alapítvány operating the Szent István Radios and the local licence Törökszentmiklós 96.4 MHz of Magyar Katolikus Rádió Alapítvány.