HUF 8 million for the production of online public service media content

In the fourth round of last year’s Neumann János tender supporting the production and publishing of online content, six Hungarian and two cross-border artists received a grant of HUF 1 million each from the patronage programme. The documentary series Tiltott Kastélyok (Forbidden Castles) will be continued on mno.hu with an episode on the Telekis of Gernyeszeg. A three-part video series about the Prince of Transylvania entitled “Rákóczi-kultusz” (The Rákóczi Cult) will be available on mandiner.hu. One of the most important authors of twentieth-century Transylvanian literature, Géza Páskándi shares his thoughts on freedom, responsibility, humanity and being Hungarian in twelve short, 3–5-minute archive videos in a series entitled “Mi nékem az igazság?” (What is truth to me?) available on the website of Pápa Városi Televízió City Television of Pápa). János Kmetty’s paintings will be followed by the five-part series Kmetty 130 on the website of Ceglédi TV, where the trials and tribulations of the post-Trianon years are also presented in the series titled “A politikán túl – Trianon 2 “ (Beyond politics: Trianon 2). The three-part series Világháló, védőháló! (The World Wide Net: a safety net!) on ikonstudio.hu will educate users on conscious Internet use. As a courtesy of the cross-border winners, the series Történelem a Maros sodrásában (History in the flow of the Maros/Mures) will continue with tours in the Mikes, Martinuzzi and Gyulay castles on filmdzsungel.hu, and the second season of the series Erdélyi életutak (Transylvanian biographies) will portray another six intellectuals on karpatpress.hu.

Radio decisions

After the substantive examination of the bids submitted, the Media Council declared Balaton Rádió Kft. the winner of the tender for the prospective availability of the small-community radio media service opportunities at the Siófok-Fokihegy site. The entitlement will be issued for a maximum of three years, but with the option of renewal for another five years if the conditions outlined in the Media Act are met.

As a result of the formal examinations, the Board registered the sole bidder Magyar Katolikus Rádió Alapítvány as the winner of the local frequency Kisújszállás 103.2 MHz.

The Media Council finalised and on 23 May 2019 published on its website the calls for tender for the use for community purposes of the currently unutilised Szombathely 97.1 MHz and Keszthely 93.4 MHz local radio frequencies. Bids may be submitted on the 24th and 27th of June.

The Media Council approved the draft invitation to tender for the community use of two radio frequencies, and will publish the documents on its website for review on Friday, as the entitlement of the current operator for the regional frequencies Eger 91.8 MHz and Hatvan 94.0 MHz is set to expire this December.

At the request of the operator, the Media Council has agreed to the amendment of the public contract of Gong FM, thus changing the programme planning commitments of the operator to allow, among other things, fewer public service content and news programmes broadcast by the radio. The operator requested the changes with reference to its commercial nature.

At the request of the operator of Rádió 1 of Baja, Paks, Szekszárd, Tiszafüred, Abádszalók, Nagykanizsa, Eger, Salgótarján, Győr, Hajdúböszörmény, Hajdúszoboszló, Hajdúnánás, Derecske, Keszthely, Szolnok, Tatabánya, Veszprém, Miskolc and Heves networked with Budapest 96.4 MHz, the Board permitted the network-connected media services to change the time slots of the 4-hour 40-minute own transmission times, thus broadcasting daily local content between 12.00 noon and 2.00 p.m. beginning 1 June.

The full agenda of the Media Council’s weekly sessions can be found on the Board’s website, along with the minutes of meetings and all decisions taken; the latest decisions will be published after the required validation and administration period.