Due to the epidemic, facilitations will be granted to the media service providers receiving grants from the board

Published: 3 April 2020

Due to the state of emergency, the Media Council of the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH) decided at its meeting this week to grant facilitations to local and regional radio and television stations under its grant agreements concluded with them in order to ensure the provision of current public service information. The Media Council carried out the formal review of the bids submitted in the tender procedures of three radio frequencies, one in Kecskemét, one in Miskolc and one in Szigetvár, and adopted the draft invitation to tender for a local frequency in Körmend.

Local and regional media service providers receiving grants from the Media Council to be provided facilitations

Due to the state of emergency, the Media Council will introduce transitional arrangements for enabling the regional radio and television stations that have already entered into a grant agreement with the Authority for news, public infotainment and thematic magazine programmes to fulfil their contractual obligations despite the current difficult circumstances. In order to reduce the spreading of the virus, the employees of the service providers have been taking steps to reduce direct personal contact. This, however, makes it difficult for them to perform their duties regarding programme production deriving from the grants received, since cultural and local public events as well as interviews are cancelled one after the other. For this reason, during the state of danger, the Media Council will extend the range of issues that can be covered by subsidised programmes, including topics such as the detailed explanation of the local effects of the information provided by members of the Operational Corps as well as the impact of the epidemic on local education, culture, health care and the environment. Broadcasting educational material for the youth, providing information about job opportunities to jobseekers, offering tips and advice to the elderly, and supplying useful information on how to seek assistance will now also be included among subsidised programme topics. Thus, the service providers receiving grants can continue helping their communities, since by airing public service content and taking into account the relevant local situation, they can contribute actively to the abatement and termination of the state of danger.

Decisions concerning radio frequencies

The Media Council carried out the formal review of the bids submitted in the tender procedures for the community use of the Kecskemét 93.7 MHz regional frequency and the Szigetvár 98.9 MHz local frequency, as well as for the commercial use of the Miskolc 96.3 MHz regional frequency. In the tender procedure of the Kecskemét frequency, it registered Katolikus Rádió Zrt. and Karc FM Média Kft. as bidders, and called on Mária Rádió Frekvencia Kft. to submit missing information. In the tender procedure of the Szigetvár frequency, it called on the sole bidder Karc FM Média Kft. to submit missing information, while in the tender procedure of the Miskolc frequency, it registered LBK Médiaszolgáltató 2020 Kft. as bidder, and called on Radio Plus Kft. and Mátra Centrum Kft. to submit missing information.

The Media Council adopted the draft invitation to tender for the commercial use of the Körmend 99.8 MHz local frequency.