Wikipedia

Magyar Rádió és Televízió

Magyar Rádió és Televízió[a] (lit. 'Hungarian Radio and Television') will be the new public service broadcaster of Hungary, which is set to launch in 2026 following a bill that passed in the National Assembly of Hungary on 23 June 2026.[1] It will be publicly funded through an Independent Public Media Council and a new Press Fund that will support independent journalism through grants.

Magyar Rádió és Televízió
TypePublic service broadcaster
IndustryMass media
Predecessor
  • MTVA
  • Duna Média
Founded2026; 0 years ago (2026)
Headquarters
Budapest
,
Hungary
Area served
Hungary
ServicesTelevision, radio, online
OwnerGovernment of Hungary

History

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Hungary's first radio broadcaster, Magyar Rádió (MR), was launched on 1 December 1925, meanwhile their first television broadcaster, Magyar Televízió (MTV), was established on 22 February 1957. In 1960, MTV was one of the four founding members of the International Radio and Television Organisation (OIRT), which was an East European network of radio and television broadcasters until it was dissolved on 1 January 1993.

Between 1957 and 1974, MR and MTV co-existed as part of the Hungarian Radio and Television (Magyar Rádió és Televízió), which coincidentally shares the same name as the broadcaster set to launch this year. However, the two broadcasters later split into independent organisations and operated separately until 2010. In 2011, MTVA was set up to finance and operate four public media companies in Hungary: Magyar Rádió (MR), Magyar Televízió (MTV), Duna Televízió (Duna TV) and Magyar Távirati Iroda (MTI). In June 2015, the Duna Media Service was established following a merger of Magyar Rádió, Magyar Televízió and Duna Televízió by the Third Orbán Government.

In 1993, MR and MTV became full members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), following the dissolution of OIRT. In 2011, MTVA joined the EBU taking the place of MR and MTV within the organisation after its launch the same year. In 2013, Duna TV joined as a member until the creation of Duna Média in 2015, where they joined the EBU the same year.

Transition to Magyar Rádió és Televízió

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Following TISZA winning a landslide victory at the 2026 Hungarian parliamentary election, Peter Magyar became the Prime Minister of Hungary, ending Fidesz's 16-year period under Viktor Orbán. While prime minister-elect, Magyar criticised MTVA and its leadership. He stated that he would shut down MTVA and reform Hungary's public broadcasting system, liking it to "North Korean-style propaganda" during a live on-air interview on the channel's news programme, M1, which was also his first appearance on the national broadcaster in 18 months.[2]

On 12 June 2026, three TISZA MP's submitted a bill to the Hungarian Parliament "on the complete transformation of public media", which would amend the Act on Media Services and Mass Communication, which passed in late 2010 to create MTVA under the Second Orbán Government.[3] The bill is set to reform the structure of Hungary's public service broadcaster by dissolving MTVA and Duna Média, and replacing them with two new organisations, which includes the creation of Hungarian Television and Radio, as well as the reinstatement of MTI as an independent entity.[4][5] This would also include the setup of an Independent Public Media Council to oversee the system and a new Press Fund to support independent journalism through grants.[6]

On 23 June 2026, the bill passed with 145 votes in favour and 39 against, with new executives for both organisations set to be selected through open competitions instead of direct appointments.[7] The amendment was enacted on 27 June.[8]

As the successor to both MTVA and Duna Média, the new Hungarian Television and Radio broadcaster would be responsible for public-service radio, television, audiovisual, digital and programme production activities, with MTI taking on the responsibility of providing news reports as Hungary's national news agency, and will operate on a separate budget structure.[9][10]

Possible return to the Eurovision Song Contest

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Magyar Televízió had previously organised Hungary's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest from its debut in 1994 until 2009. Hungary did not participate in 2010, with MTVA bringing the country back to the contest following its formation in 2011. Hungary withdrew from the 2020 contest, which was eventually cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but has not returned since under MTVA.[11][12][13] The withdrawal came during a rise of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment among the leadership of Hungary and MTVA; while no official reason for the withdrawal was given by the broadcaster, an inside source speaking with the website Index.hu speculated that the contest was considered "too gay" for MTVA to participate.[14] A Dal, Hungary's national selection process from 2012 to 2019, has still been organised since Hungary withdrew from the contest.

At a forum in Győr in August 2025, when asked about Hungary's absence from the contest, the chairman of the TISZA, Péter Magyar, stated that if his party is able to form a government after the 2026 elections (in which TISZA went on to win a supermajority), he would consider initiating the country's return to the event.[15][16][17] In May 2026, Magyar revealed during an interview on Austrian broadcaster ORF's news program Zeit im Bild that he had instructed the Minister or State Secretary for Culture to examine the possibility of a return.[18]

Services

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Its activities include radio, television, news agencies and online services as listed below, which are currently run by MTVA, but are expected to be run by the new broadcaster after MTVA closes later this year:

Radio

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Television

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  • Duna: Duna Media's main generalist channel for television.
  • Duna World: international channel which caters to Hungarians abroad
  • M1: broadcasts news, debates and current affairs programming.
  • M2: children channel
  • M2 Petőfi [hu]: channel for young people
  • M4 Sport: Sports channel established in July 2015
  • M4 Sport+ [hu]: Sports channel established in September 2020 which caters to Hungarians abroad
  • M5: culture and educational programming

Internet

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  • Hirado.hu – A popular news portal related to the news programme of the same name
  • Mediaklikk.hu – Official MTVA website
  • M4sport.hu – Official site of M4 Sport
  • Petofilive.hu – Official site of Petőfi Rádió and M2 Petőfi
  • Teletext.hu – Teletext service
  • M3: broadcasts movies and historical programmes, taken from the archives of Magyar Televízió and Duna TV. It has operated as an online service since the TV channel closed down on 30 April 2019.

Notes

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  1. ↑ Officially known as Magyar Rádió és Televízió Nonprofit Zrt. (lit. 'Hungarian Radio and Television Nonprofit Ltd.')

References

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  1. ↑ "Elfogadta a parlament a médiatörvényt, amivel felszámolják a jelenlegi közmédiát" [Parliament has passed the media law, which will eliminate the current public media]. Telex.hu (in Hungarian).
  2. ↑ Zsiros, Sandor (15 April 2026). "Magyar vows to shut down Hungarian state TV accusing it of 'North Korean' propaganda". Euronews.
  3. ↑ Chastand, Jean-Baptiste (17 June 2026). "Hungarian media landscape upended after Viktor Orban's fall from power". Le Monde.
  4. ↑ ""2026. évi XXI. törvény a médiaszolgáltatásokról és a tömegkommunikációról szóló 2010. évi CLXXXV. törvény, valamint az Országgyűlésről szóló 2012. évi XXXVI. törvény módosításáról"" ["Act XXI of 2026 on the amendment of Act CLXXXV of 2010 on Media Services and Mass Communication and Act XXXVI of 2012 on the Parliament"]. Nemzeti Jogszabálytár (in Hungarian). 27 June 2026.
  5. ↑ Farren, Neil (3 July 2026). "Hungary: Hungarian Government Votes to Dissolve MTVA". Eurovoix.
  6. ↑ "Vége az MTVA-nak, a teljes közmédia átalakul: jön a Sajtóalap és a Független Közmédia Testület" [The end of MTVA, the entire public media is being transformed: the Press Fund and the Independent Public Media Board are coming]. 444.hu (in Hungarian).
  7. ↑ "Elfogadta a parlament a médiatörvényt, amivel felszámolják a jelenlegi közmédiát" [Parliament has passed the media law, which will eliminate the current public media]. Telex.hu (in Hungarian).
  8. ↑ "MAGYAR KÖZLÖNY • 2026. évi 80. szám". Magyarkozlony.hu (in Hungarian). 26 June 2026. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  9. ↑ "Parliament approves sweeping public broadcasting reform". The Budapest Times. 23 June 2026.
  10. ↑ Szalay, Zoltan (3 July 2026). "For Hungary, it is an earthquake: public-service media will not be one-sided, Orbán's Fidesz empire is falling apart". EUobserver.
  11. ↑ Herbert, Emily (13 November 2019). "41 Countries Will Participate in The Eurovision Song Contest 2020". eurovoix.com. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  12. ↑ Juhász, Ervin (11 October 2021). "Despite the rumours, no mention of Eurovision in the rules of Hungary's A Dal 2022!". ESCBubble. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  13. ↑ "REVEALED: the 41 countries joining Eurovision in Turin 2022". Eurovision.tv. EBU. 20 October 2021. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  14. ↑ Walker, Shaun; Garamvolgyi, Flora (27 November 2019). "Hungary pulls out of Eurovision amid rise in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric". The Guardian.
  15. ↑ Ignatiuk, Szymon (23 August 2025). "Lider opozycji na 🇭🇺 Węgrzech zapewnia, że kraj wróci na Eurowizję jeśli jego partia wygra wybory". ESCSpot (in Polish). Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  16. ↑ Higgins, Andrew; Rutai, Lili (12 April 2026). "Hungary Election Results: Viktor Orban Concedes Defeat and Congratulates Peter Magyar". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  17. ↑ Mundo, El (13 April 2026). "Magyar, the politician demanding Hungary's return to the Eurovision Festival to recover the values crushed by Orban". ELMUNDOAMERICA. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  18. ↑ Farren, Neil (22 May 2026). "Hungary: Prime Minister to Instruct Minister or State Secretary for Culture to Examine Possible Eurovision Return". Eurovoix. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
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