Media Council: HUF 400 million earmarked for call for applications in 2015 to contribute to the funding of the overheads of community TV and radio channels

Published: 3 October 2014

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At its meeting yesterday, the Media Council of the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH) decided to grant support for the production of an online film series about musicians performing on the A38 Ship, an informative film presenting an eight-thousand-year-old culture and the operation of community media service providers. Tuesday also saw a decision on proceedings against Class FM for certain things said in its morning show.

Call for applications for funding overhead costs in 2015

Similarly to this year, the Media Council decided to allocate HUF 400 million for a call for applications in 2015 to contribute to the funding of the operating and overhead costs of community television and radio channels under the Hungarian Media Patronage programme. With this form of support the Media Council of the NMHH wishes to promote the continuation of media market diversity as without this opportunity these small media service providers could easily end up in a desperate situation.

The monthly sum of the support cap per applicant is HUF 600 thousand for community televisions and HUF 500 thousand for community radios, whereas small community radio stations can reckon on HUF 400 thousand. The procedure will consist of four rounds: the first submission will take place on 6 November, the second round is open until 4 December, and applications can be submitted until 8 January and 5 February 2015 in the third and the fourth round, respectively. The call for applications will be available on the website of the NMHH from 7 October.

Another two films to receive immediate support

This week the Media Council of the NMHH also decided on calls for applications for cinematographic works under the Hungarian Media Patronage programme. This week's round of the Neumann János programme awarded funds for the making of an online series of 35 short filmic episodes portraying Hungarian performance artists. The series will be available on the website of A38 as an addition to the already-supported Contemporary Popular Music Archive. This time an informative film has been marked out for funding under the Escher Károly patronage programme which will present the archaeological findings unearthed during the construction of the M4 motorway.

Investigation initiated against Class FM

The Council also decided to initiate proceedings against Class FM, a national commercial radio station for certain transmissions in its morning show in September. The presenters commented on a rape incident which happened during a freshman camp organised by the Faculty of Primary and Pre-school Education of Eötvös Loránd University in a peculiar manner; their comments triggered a public outcry and dozens of listener complaints. Once the proceedings begin the Media Council of the NMHH will examine whether the Morning Show of 1 September violated any law. The Media Act stipulates 40 days for concluding such proceedings which may be extended by an additional 30 days in justified cases.