Hungary suspends state TV news broadcasts as government launches media overhaul

Hungary’s state television temporarily suspended news broadcasts on Tuesday as Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s government launched a sweeping overhaul of the country’s public service media. The move marks the first major step in fulfilling Magyar’s election promise to reform state-run broadcasters, which critics have long accused of serving as government mouthpieces. The government says the restructuring aims to create an independent and credible public news service, ending years of alleged political influence over state media.

The main M1 state television channel replaced its regular news programming with a black screen displaying the message, "Public service media cannot lie. We apologise for doing this for many years nonetheless."

Another announcement said, "Public media is now being revamped so that it can be independent and credible in the future. News broadcast is temporarily suspended. Please stay with us!"

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Earlier in the day, local media reported that several editors from state television and radio had been dismissed after a new interim management team took charge at the broadcaster's headquarters.

Media overhaul follows election pledge

The changes fulfil one of Prime Minister Peter Magyar's key election promises to overhaul state media and end what he described as "propaganda" during the tenure of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Magyar's Tisza Party defeated Orban's nationalist Fidesz party after 16 years in power in the April election. Since taking office, Magyar has begun restructuring institutions regarded as key centres of Orban's influence, while pledging to restore checks and balances and tackle corruption.

In a Facebook post, Magyar described the suspension of state news broadcasts as a historic moment.

"It's a historic day, as the broadcast of propaganda has ended on public service media," he said, adding that Kossuth Radio had also stopped broadcasting.

In a later post, he said the M1 channel would resume transmissions at 1956 CET, showing films but without news programming.

Following the election, Magyar said he wanted to create "a truly balanced, objective news service".

One of his first decisions as prime minister was to order a "comprehensive and immediate" review of public service media and its funding.

Experts say restoring trust will be difficult

Media analysts said rebuilding confidence in Hungary's public broadcasters would be a significant challenge.

"The first and most important task is to restore the credibility and the trust in public service media," said Gabor Polyak, professor at the media and communications department of Eotvos Lorand University.

Polyak said public broadcasters should focus on producing Hungarian-language cultural content while operating transparently and efficiently.

Orban criticises the decision

The move drew criticism from former Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who described it as "the latest move by the Tisza party despotism" and encouraged viewers to watch the right-wing private broadcaster HirTV instead.

The developments drew comparisons with measures taken in Poland, where Prime Minister Donald Tusk's pro-European government removed a public news channel from the air shortly after taking office in 2023.

During Orban's years in office, Hungary's state media came under increasing government control following the introduction of new media laws. Several private media outlets were either shut down or acquired by businessmen considered close to the government.

According to Reporters Without Borders, Hungary dropped from 23rd place in 2010 to 74th in 2026 in its global press freedom index.

Orban's government rejected allegations of political interference in the media and maintained that Hungary complied with EU standards on media freedom.