The Media Council successfully weighed in to have the operator of Mozi+ fined for inappropriate age rating
At this week’s session, held by video conference, the Media Council of the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH) finalised the calls for tender for the radio frequencies of Gyöngyös and Nyíregyháza. The Romanian media supervisory authority imposed a fine on the operator of Mozi+ after the receipt of a notification transmitted by the Hungarian supervisory body.
The Media Council finalised the calls for tender for the community use of the Gyöngyös 88.9 MHz local radio frequency and the Nyíregyháza 102.6 MHz regional radio frequency.
The board carried out the formal review of the bids submitted in the tender procedures of the Heves 93.7 MHz local commercial frequency and the Siklós 88.6 MHz local community frequency. In the first tender, it registered M-Lite Kft. as bidder and called on Veszprém Rádió Kft. to supply missing information, while in the latter, the board called on the sole bidder Karc FM Kft. to supply missing information. The board has declared the tender procedure for the Körmend 99.8 MHz local commercial radio frequency to be unsuccessful, as the bid submitted by the sole bidder was formally invalid.
The Media Council cautioned the operator of Hír TV—without imposing a fine—for broadcasting a content that constitutes surreptitious advertising because it specified the exact location of two business sites of a sponsor in a sponsorship message that appeared in a rerun in November 2019 and in four reruns in January 2020 of the magazine programme Otthonteremtők (Home Creators). When imposing a fine, the Media Council always determines the form and extent of sanctions with due consideration to all the circumstances of the specific case and employing the principles of progressiveness and proportionality.
Based on a notification forwarded by the NMHH, the Romanian partner authority, CNA imposed a fine of ROL 5 thousand (approx. HUF 362 thousand) on the operator of Mozi+ for broadcasting World War Z, an action-horror movie, at 4:30 p.m. with a “parental guidance is recommended for children under the age of 12” rating despite the fact that the film should have been aired in the late evening hours due to its horrifying content. The involvement of the Romanian authority was necessary because the media service provider of the Mozi+ channel provides its services in Hungary while registered under Romanian jurisdiction.
The full agenda of the Media Council’s weekly sessions is available on the Board’s website, along with the minutes of the meetings and all decisions taken; the latest decisions will be published after the necessary validation and administration period.