Three of Hungary’s smaller commercial TV stations and the country’s broadcasting authority, ORTT, have become embroiled in a battle over legal status which could drive the channels out of the country, state news agency MTI has reported. Cable and satellite channels Viasat3, Filmmuzeum and Sport1 argue that an ORTT decision to reclassify them a national broadcasters will lead to a huge increase in costs, meaning they can no longer operate in Hungary.
MTI quoted ORTT’s chairman Görgy Kovács as saying it reached its decision based on information supplied by the three channels themselves, and the fact that more than half of Hungarians can watch the their programmes, he said. But Viasat3, Filmmuzeum and Sport1 believe the ruling violates European broadcasting regulations, and say ORTT made “several legal mistakes.”
(Source: Budapest Sun)
