NMHH Media Council: funding to thirteen community media service providers for technical development projects

Published: 21 December 2018

At this week’s meeting, the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH) Media Council awarded funding in the amount of over HUF 21 million to thirteen operators in the last round of this year’s tender for the technical development of community television and radio stations. The Media Council called on the bidders in two regional, local radio procedures to submit missing documents. Within its media supervisory activity, the panel imposed a fine on the operators of two radio stations within the Rádió 1 network, and of RTL Klub.

Thirteen community media service providers received funding for technical developments

The Media Council declared an additional thirteen applicants as recipients in the third round of the technical tender for community media service providers of the Hungarian Media Patronage Programme. Winners will receive HUF 21.3 million in total to purchase studio, sound and lighting equipment, broadcast signal transmission devices and IT equipment needed to provide media services. Winning television stations include ES Térségi Televízió of Vác, Trió-TV-Dunántúl based in Sárvár, Füzesabonyi Városi Televízió and Zemplén TV of Sátoraljaújhely. Funding for the development of technical equipment is provided to the community radios Trend FM, Klasszik Rádió 92.1 and Magyar Katolikus Rádió of Budapest and Sola Rádió of Érd, and to the small community radios of Első Pesti Egyetemi Rádió of Budapest, Táska Rádió of Székesfehérvár, Mustár Rádió of Nyíregyháza, Rádió Szentendre and Rádió Szarvas.

Decisions on radio tenders

In the formal review of the bids submitted for the tenders announced for the commercial utilisation of the local radio frequencies of Baja 88.7 MHz and Solt 94.1 MHz, the Media Council called upon the sole bidder for both frequencies, Gong Rádió Kft., to submit the missing documents.

Media supervisory fines

The Media Council imposed a HUF 50,000 fine each on the radio operators in Rádió 1’s network broadcasting on the Salgótarján 100.4 MHz and Eger 101.3 MHz frequencies. During a programming week reviewed in late August and early September, the operator of the Salgótarján radio aired different signature tunes than those agreed upon in their public contracts on many occasions and failed to meet its commitments on the daily and weekly proportions of text, Hungarian music; programmes dealing with local community and facilitating local everyday life and public service broadcasts. The radio operator of the Eger frequency also aired different signature tunes than those stipulated by the public contract a number of times, fewer own production programs than agreed on two broadcast days, and failed to meet its commitments on the daily and weekly proportions of Hungarian music during a programming week reviewed in mid-September.

The NMHH Media Council imposed fines in a total of HUF 200,000 on the operator of the television network RTL Klub for one of the broadcasts of the programme Reggeli in early September: when the programme showcased a villa park, the network violated one of the provisions of the Media Act on product placement, according to which programmes containing product placement may not directly call upon viewers to purchase or rent a product or use a service, and may not place too much emphasis on the product placement that otherwise would not be justified based on the content of the programme.