Echo TV was a Christian-conservativeHAZÁNK LEGFRISSEBB TELEVÍZIÓJA LETT A KERESZTÉNY-KONZERVATÍV ECHO - András Kárpáti - Magyar Idők
/ref> Hungarian

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

channel owned and operated by Echo Hungária TV Zrt, and founded in 2005 to cover business news.Nemzeti erők egyesítése: Új tulajdonosa van az Echo Televíziónak - Tamás Pindroch
- Magyar Hírlap Later focusing on

news broadcasting News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or telev ...

and public affairs, it was known as a supporter of

Fidesz Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; hu, Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán. It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young ...

and

KDNP The Christian Democratic People's Party ( hu, Kereszténydemokrata Néppárt, KDNP) is a right-wing Christian democratic political party in Hungary. It is officially a coalition partner of the ruling party, Fidesz, but is mostly considered a sat ...

History

Echo TV founded as a business news channel in 2005 at the initiative of Gábor Széles, the 4th richest man of Hungary (as of 2017) and the head of Videoton and

Ikarus Bus Ikarus was a bus manufacturer based in Budapest and Székesfehérvár, Hungary. It was established in 1895 as Imre Uhry's Blacksmith Workshop and Coach Factory ''( hun.: Uhry Imre Kovács- és Kocsigyártó Üzeme)'' and during the Communist e ...

. Széles had only days previously purchased Hungary's daily '' Magyar Hírlap''; the acquisition of both stations helped Széles establish a major media presence in Hungary. Széles reportedly spent two billion

Hungarian forint The forint (sign Ft; code HUF) is the currency of Hungary. It was formerly divided into 100 fillér, but fillér coins are no longer in circulation. The introduction of the forint on 1 August 1946 was a crucial step in the post-World War II stab ...

s in creating Echo TV. In 2006 Echo TV became a media partner of Feratel media technologies AG, based in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Gábor Széles sold Echo TV to Fidesz-backed businessman and oligarch

Lőrinc Mészáros Lőrincz Mészáros (born 24 February 1966) is a Hungarian businessman, and former politician, who served as Mayor of the hungarian village Felcsút between 2011 and 2018 . With an estimated wealth of 407.7 billion forint ($1.3 billion) ...

on December 2, 2016. On December 4, 2017 the whole channel was renewed. Echo TV ceased operations on March 31, 2019. Its staff and technical equipment were integrated into

Hír TV Hír TV is a Hungarian television news channel, the first of such made in the country. It began broadcasting on 2 January 2003. History Initial years On 26 November 2002, the TV channel was registered using 20 million Hungarian forints (~64 ...

, which had returned as a pro-government media portfolio after the 2018 parliamentary election.

Association with far-right politics

According to ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'', Echo TV was a forum favored among neofascists in Hungary. After the 2010 election in Hungary, Echo TV displayed an image of

Imre Kertész Imre Kertész (; 9 November 192931 March 2016) was a Hungarian author and recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Literature, "for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history". He was ...

, a Hungarian survivor of Auschwitz and nobel laureate, alongside a voiceover about rats. Sándor Pörzse was a well-known host for Echo TV before helping to found

Jobbik The Movement for a Better Hungary ( hu, Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom), commonly known as Jobbik (), is a conservative political party in Hungary. Originating with radical and nationalist roots, at its beginnings, the party described itself ...

's paramilitary organization the " Hungarian Guard," later banned by the Hungarian Government. Sándor Pörzse was removed from the Echo TV in 2009. One of Echo TV's better known broadcasters was Ferenc Szaniszló, known for his racist and anti-Semitic statements. In 2011, Hungary's media regulator fined Echo 500,000 Forints after Szaniszló compared Roma people to "monkeys".

References

External links

* * {{Television in Hungary Television networks in Hungary Defunct television channels in Hungary Television channels and stations established in 2005 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2019 2005 establishments in Hungary 2019 disestablishments in Hungary Mass media in Budapest Conservatism in Hungary