Media Council provides grants to twenty-six television programmes

The Media Council announced the winners of the third round of this year’s tender for the production of news, public and cultural infotainment programmes under its grant programme for local and regional television stations. Twenty-six tenders of twenty-five televisions will receive HUF 122.4 million worth of grants. Baranya Televízió, Komló és Térsége Televízió, Régió Tv Esztergom, Kiskőrös Televízió, Hajdúszoboszlói Városi Televízió, Soltvadkerti TV, Régió Plusz TV of Gödöllő, Irány TV of Miskolc, Városi Televízió Kistelek and TV10 of Budapest may employ the grants to produce public infotainment programmes. TV Budakalász, Debrecen Televízió, Nyíregyházi Városi Televízió, Kecskeméti Televízió, Veszprém TV, Gyula TV, Tolnatáj Televízió and Hegyvidék Televízió Budapest will receive grants for news programmes. Winners in the cultural infotainment programme category include TV Szentendre, Halas TV, Pécs TV, Szarvasi Televízió, Gyula TV, Gyöngyösi Városi Televízió, Szolnok TV and Apostol TV of Budapest.

Radio tenders and media supervisory fines

The Media Council has carried out the formal examination of the bids submitted for the community use of local frequency Zalaegerszeg 104.4 MHz and for the community use of the Győr 96.4 MHz frequency with a regional coverage area and registered Mária Rádió Frekvencia Kft. as the sole bidder in the former tender, while regarding the latter tender, the Council has requested the sole bidder, Katolikus Rádió Zrt. to submit missing documents.

In a reviewed June broadcast of the programme Életmódkalauz on RTL Klub, the service provider aired detailed information in the sponsorship message of an eyelid spray which should be considered surreptitious advertising, which could have been misleading for viewers as the service provider failed to indicate that the promotion had a commercial purpose. Moreover, the detailed presentation of the eyelid spray and the product of another – play dough manufacturing – company may have encouraged viewers to purchase the products, which is also unlawful. Therefore, the Media Council imposed a fine of HUF 1.55 million on the channel’s service providers. When imposing legal consequences, the Media Council always determines the form and extent of these with due consideration of all circumstances of the specific case and employs the principles of progressiveness and proportionality.

The full agenda of the Media Council’s weekly sessions can be found 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.