Magyar Televízió

Magyar Televízió (''Hungarian Television'') or MTV is a nationwide public television broadcasting organization in Hungary. Headquartered in Budapest, it is the oldest television broadcaster in Hungary and today airs five channels: M1 HD, M2 HD, M3, M4 Sport and M5.

MTV is managed and primarily funded by the Media Service Support and Asset Management Fund ( hu, Médiaszolgáltatás-támogató és Vagyonkezelő Alap, abbreviated MTVA). This government organization, formed in 2011, also manages the public service broadcasters Magyar Rádió and Duna Televízió as well as the Hungarian news agency Magyar Távirati Iroda.

On 1 July 2015, Magyar Televízió as well as the three other public media organizations managed by the MTVA were merged into a single organization called Duna Médiaszolgáltató. This organization is the legal successor to Magyar Televízió and is an active member of the European Broadcasting Union.

History

Early years (1954–1969)

First pioneer transmissions were in Hotel Gellért in 1936. Test transmissions commenced in 1954, however these were generally with stills or short clips of motion pictures, merely for experimental purposes. Regular test transmissions could be received from 23 February 1957. Transmissions began officially on 1 May 1957, when the May Day ceremonies were brought to the viewers for the first time. Daily news programmes began on 2 July 1957. The television service began its career as part of Hungarian Radio, which was renamed "Hungarian Radio and Television" on August 18, 1957. MTV suggested the establishment of an international organisation for exchanging television material, which was to be named Intervision. The first four members of the organisation were Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary and Poland.

By 1959, Hungarian Television had over 50,000 subscribers. In 1960, the Corporation decided to establish an archive, where its programmes are stored even today. In less than ten years of operation, MTV had some 2.7 million viewers by 1964. Studies showed that there were about 3-5 viewers per television set. Another study revealed that by 1965, 46% of the inhabitants of rural areas named television as their choice of entertainment, instead of reading (25%) or radio (10%).

Theatrical transmissions were popular at this time: in 1966 23 plays were broadcast from Budapest, 20 from other cities. Also, 25 television movies and five musicals were transmitted this year.

1969 brought the one millionth subscriber, which meant about 4 million viewers. The first colour recording was made this year: it was Béla Bartók's ''The Miraculous Mandarin''. Although the Orion company presented its first colour television set, transmissions continued to be in black-and-white until 1971.

The 1970s

1971 brought the first regular transmission in colour, and the test transmissions of a second channel were begun as well. This decade was probably the most proliferous in the history of the whole company, with thousands of hours of programming made.

The 1980s

Annual programming time reached 4.300 hours, equalling to 83 hours a week. Teletext services commenced in 1981, called ''Képújság'' (Picture Newspaper), and television manufacturers started including teletext decoders in their sets. Long-running programmes were started in this decade, including ''Ablak'' (Window) and ''Panoráma'' (a foreign affairs programme). Regional programming began in 1984 in Pécs, and cable television began in Székesfehérvár the same year. ''RTV'', a programme guide similar to BBC
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