Hungarian public broadcaster launches new dedicated news-only TV channel

Hungary’s umbrella company for public service broadcasters, the Media Service Support and Asset Management Fund (MTVA), has launched M1, a new all-news public service TV channel. The MTVA is responsible for producing content on behalf of popular channels including MR, MTV and Duna TV.

László Zsolt Szabó, CEO of MTVA, said that the launch of the new channel is comparable to a “regime change”. On the new channel’s morning programme on Sunday, Szabó said: “We can confidently state that with regard to public media, a long-awaited regime change — not in the political sense — has taken place with this reorganisation.”

According to Szabó, the plans for the creation of an all-news channel has been in the works for years, citing other European public service broadcasters like the BBC and others in Poland and Germany, which all have dedicated channels exclusively to air new programmes, as inspiration.

A new public TV sports channel, M4, is to be launched on 5 July, and will air Formula 1 races, Champions League football matches and other national sports events.