31-10-2007

Hungarian MTV fined for violating ad code

By

    Hungary's National Radio and Television Commission, or ORTT, has ordered Magyar Televizio to pay an 800,000 forint (€3,190) fine for "implied advertising," a violation of the 1995 media law.

    The decision by ORTT (www.ortt.hu), dated Oct 25, gave no specifics about the violation by MTV (www.mtv.hu) other than to state it occurred on June 30 during the morning program Nap-Kelte, produced by sports maven and businessman Tamas Gyarfas. Implied advertising is not made apparent to the viewer.

    The commission also opened an investigation into whether there was a similar violation during Nap-Kelte's business news in September.

    In early October the online version of Hungarian business weekly HVG ran a story reporting that a private company related to Gyarfas accepted 1 million forints (€4,000) from state utility corporations to be showcased on the Nap-Kelte program. In an interview with the daily Nepszabadsag, Gyarfas denied any wrongdoing. There were no indications whether these reports were related to the cases before the commission.