The Hungarian text translates into English as:

Public media cannot lie. We apologise for having done exactly that for many years. Public media is now being transformed so that in the future it will be independent and trustworthy. News services are temporarily suspended. Please stay with us!

News service gradually restarts on public media platforms

News service is gradually restarting, in a coordinated manner, on Hungarian public media television, radio and digital platforms, the press department of Duna Media Services and the Media Services Support and Asset Management Fund (MTVA) said late on Saturday.

A new structure that ensures "credible, fact-based, objective and impartial information for the public" is being rolled out on public radio and television, MTVA said in the statement sent to MTI.

The rollout follows the issue of new news service principles by CEO Andras Horvath, after a temporary suspension of operation on July 7.

"The gradual introduction of the new news service structure ensures that individual services can restart in accordance with these professional requirements and under the appropriate organisational and operational conditions," the statement said.

From July 11, Bartok Radio's programmes will continue to be broadcast on Kossuth Radio, but with news segments.

News tickers will be shown during programmes broadcast on television channel M1, with live studio programmes and shows about politics and public life set to launch as the next step of the restructuring.

News service of public media's music and internet broadcasters will again be accessible in the usual time slots.

An announcement on the relaunch of the content service of hirado.hu will be made at a later time, MTVA said.

M1 caption goes viral, nearly 2m views on social media

A caption broadcast by public media channel M1 at the moment it halted propaganda has been viewed nearly 2 million times on social media, the MTVA Press and Marketing Office told MTI.

Articles published about the event noted strong public interest in the caption and the extraordinary programme change that followed on M1 on Tuesday. The broadcast interruption lasted from 15:59:46 to 19:56, nearly four hours in total, the office said.

According to official data from Nielsen, there were 50,355 tune-ins during that period. However, due to the methodological specifics of Hungary's audience measurement system, the number of viewers who watched the silent caption could not be measured.

The figure of over 50,000 reflects the combined viewership of the minutes immediately before and after the broadcast interruption.

Photos and videos posted on social media, however, clearly show that in many locations, groups of people gathered simultaneously in front of television screens, the office added.

This suggests that the actual number of people who saw and often photographed the caption was significantly higher than the officially measurable data, it said.

The extraordinary situation was followed at 19:56 by the broadcast of the classic Hungarian film The Witness, which attracted significant viewer interest. The film's viewership reached nearly three times the channel's average daily audience prior to that day.

Viewership data for The Witness showed a reach of 653,191 and an average audience of 122,440. The average viewership for the entire day before the film was 41,960, the office said. Hungarian film dramas later in the evening also drew considerable audiences.

Online platforms also saw exceptional interest. On July 7, nearly ten times as many people watched M1's broadcast live online as on previous days. More than 20,000 people watched The Witness live on the public media's online platforms.

The hirado.hu website has had more than 46,000 visitors since July 7.

The broadcast interruption also resonated significantly on social media: the combined number of views for the captioned posts on M1's Facebook and Instagram pages is currently nearly 2 million, the statement said.

Earlier: 

"A historic day. Today, propaganda broadcasting on Hungary's public media has finally come to an end," Magyar said. "They lied by night. They lied by day. They lied on every channel. That ends now."

Magyar confirmed that public news channel M1 and Kossuth Radio have been taken off air.

In another post, Magyar said that "seventy years after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, symbolically at 19:56, public television channel M1 returns."

For now, it will broadcast only films, without news programming, he added.

Earlier on Tuesday, the press office of the Media Services Support and Asset Management Fund (MTVA) said that M1's screens had gone black, while Kossuth Radio's frequency now carries Bartok Radio's programming.

Andras Horvath, MTVA's interim chief executive, and his team "immediately halted propaganda and suspended news broadcasts across all public media platforms", the statement said.

MTVA noted that M1, launched in 1957, had only previously aired a black screen during technical issues or national mourning, such as after the death of Jozsef Antall, Hungary's first democratically elected prime minister, in 1993.

"Once again, the black screen symbolises the end of an era," the statement said. "In recent years, public media fell under political influence, losing its primary function: providing the public with credible and objective information. Instead, it became a forum for incitement and lies. That changes now."

A temporary message on M1’s screen reads: "Public media must not lie. We apologise for doing so for so many years. Public media is now undergoing a transformation to ensure it remains independent and credible. News coverage is temporarily suspended. Stay tuned!"

M1 will temporarily relaunch in a new format at 7.56pm, featuring films and no news coverage, the statement said.

MTVA's press office also said on Tuesday that during the transitional period, Zsofia Meszaros will be responsible for the online directorate, Balazs Bodacz for the news directorate, Gyorgy Kerenyi for the management of Kossuth Radio, Peter Koltai will take over the CEO's cabinet, and Sara Teszary will lead the PR and marketing department and also handle the spokesperson duties.

MTVA: Public news channel M1 goes dark, Kossuth Radio off the air

The screen of Hungary's public television news channel M1 went dark on Tuesday afternoon, while Kossuth Radio's broadcast has been replaced by Bartok Radio, as Andras Horvath, the interim chief executive of the Media Services Support and Asset Management Fund (MTVA), and his team immediately halted propaganda and suspended news broadcasts across all public media platforms, MTVA’s press office told MTI.

In a statement, MTVA noted that M1, launched in 1957, had only previously aired a black screen during technical issues or national mourning, such as after the death of Jozsef Antall, Hungary's first democratically elected prime minister, in 1993.

"Once again, the black screen symbolises the end of an era," the statement said. "In recent years, public media fell under political influence, losing its primary function: providing the public with credible and objective information. Instead, it became a forum for incitement and lies. That changes now."

A temporary message on M1’s screen reads: "Public media must not lie. We apologise for doing so for so many years. Public media is now undergoing a transformation to ensure it remains independent and credible. News coverage is temporarily suspended. Stay tuned!"

M1 returned to the air at 7.56pm with Peter Bacso's 1969 film The Witness (A Tanu), marking a symbolic fresh start after the afternoon shutdown, MTVA's press office said in a new statement.

The blackout that began at 4pm signalled "the end of an era and the beginning of a new one", the statement said.

"From now on, Hungary will see the creation of a public media that unites and informs, rather than divides and misleads the public," they said.

The statement said The Witness was chosen for its lessons from the past and its reminder of the importance of free, independent journalism.

In the coming days, M1 will feature classic Hungarian films, while news programming will gradually return under a new editorial structure. Kossuth Radio's frequency will temporarily carry Bartok Radio's programmes.

Sports broadcasts, including FIFA World Cup matches, and all non-news programming on other channels remain unaffected.

"Thank you for your patience and trust," the statement said. "Stay tuned. Together, we will work to make public media into an institution the country can be proud of."

MTVA: New interim leadership takes over at public media

Andras Horvath, the interim chief executive of Media Services Support and Asset Management Fund (MTVA), arrived at the MTVA headquarters on Tuesday morning together with his interim leadership appointees, the MTVA Press and Marketing Office said in a statement on Tuesday.

Their task is to review the operations of the public media, ensure a smooth transition, and suspend propaganda while professionally renewing the news service, "so that the public media can finally become a credible, objective, and independent institution after the past years," the statement said.

During the transitional period, Zsofia Meszaros will be responsible for the online directorate, Balazs Bodacz for the news directorate, Gyorgy Kerenyi for the management of Kossuth Radio, Peter Koltai will take over the CEO's cabinet, and Sara Teszary will lead the PR and marketing department and also handle the spokesperson duties.

After the transitional period, the final leader of the public media will be selected through an open tender process, following social and professional consultations, the statement said.

MTI Stock Photo

Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881.

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