Hungary's new government begins dismantling Orbán's media empire, M1 news channel off air for hours

No news in public-service media is abnormal. But what is happening now is the dismantling of an authoritarian regime, a media expert said.

On Tuesday, the new management of Hungary’s public-service media switched off M1 for several hours. The broadcast resumed in the evening, and since then the channel has been showing film classics. There is no news coverage.

Public-service media must not lie. We apologise for the fact that we did it for many years nonetheless! Public-service media are now changing in order to be independent and trustworthy in the future. News coverage is temporarily suspended. Stay with us!

Whoever turned on the M1 channel of Hungary’s public-service media on Tuesday evening saw this message on a black background.

M1, the news channel of the public-service media, was one of the symbols of Viktor Orbán’s system. It unreservedly spread government propaganda and also carried smear materials from Fidesz’s media empire.

Opposition voices and experts independent of the government were not allowed to appear on the news channel. Other public-service programmes likewise did not invite artists and public figures who had in any way criticised the government — there was reportedly a blacklist of people who could not be invited.

Before the 2026 elections, Hungary's now Prime Minister Péter Magyar appeared on a public-service studio in September 2024. It was his only appearance. He returned only after his election victory — and even then, the interview with him was conducted in a patronising, lecturing tone. Magyar then, with his typical vehemence, listed everything the public-service media had done and not done during Orbán’s system.

It Was an Election Promise

One of the election promises of Magyar’s Tisza party was to stop the propaganda and transform the public-service media.

Magyar said several times that once a Tisza government was formed, it would immediately halt the public-service news service. This finally happened only on Tuesday, following preparations and the adoption of a new media law on 23 June.

Among other things, the law abolishes:

• Duna Médiaszolgáltató, the company operating the public-service media
• The Media Service Support and Asset Management Fund (MTVA), which had provided content production for the public-service media

MTVA was split into two parts:

• Hungarian Radio and Television (Magyar Rádió és Televízió Nonprofit Zrt.) — a non-profit joint-stock company that constitutes the new public-service outlet
• Hungarian News Agency (Magyar Távirati Iroda Nonprofit Zrt.) — a non-profit joint-stock company that serves as the state news agency, once again operating as a separate organisation

For the period of organisational transformation, the parliamentary Culture Committee temporarily appointed lawyer András P. Horváth as head of Duna Médiaszolgáltató and MTVA, as the mandates of the directors general of both organisations expired when the media law entered into force.