Hungary

[HU] Comprehensive structural reform of public service broadcasting with the amendment to the Media Act

IRIS 2026-7:1/18

Kinga Sorbán

University of Public Service

A comprehensive amendment to the Hungarian media regulatory framework has come into force, introducing significant structural changes to the national media authority, public service broadcasting governance, and media financing mechanisms. Act XXI of 2026, which substantially modifies the Hungarian Media Act (Act CLXXXV of 2010 on Media Services and Mass Communication), as well as Act XXXVI of 2012 on the National Assembly, was enacted at the end of June 2026, with its core institutional and structural provisions taking legal effect on 27 June 2026.

The legislative changes systematically restructure the country's institutional media landscape with the stated objective of modernising public service media and establishing new regulatory safeguards.

The newly adopted legislation enacted the following core operational and structural provisions:

- The termination of current mandates: the mandates of the current members of the Media Council of the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (Nemzeti Média- és Hírközlési Hatóság – NMHH), the members of the Board of Trustees of the Public Service Foundation (Közszolgálati Közalapítvány), as well as the current executive officers of the public service broadcaster Duna Médiaszolgáltató and the Media Service Support and Asset Management Fund (MTVA) are terminated by virtue of the law.

- The institutional restructuring of public service media: the existing institutional structure of public media – comprising Duna Médiaszolgáltató as the public broadcaster and MTVA as the content production entity – is dissolved. The framework is split into two distinct, newly established corporate entities: the Hungarian Radio and Television Nonprofit Zrt. (Magyar Rádió és Televízió Nonprofit Zrt.) and the Hungarian Telegraph Agency Nonprofit Zrt. (Magyar Távirati Iroda Nonprofit Zrt.).

- The introduction of the Public Service Charter: under the new framework, the core qualitative requirements and baseline operational guidelines for public broadcasting are to be elaborated in a new document called the Public Service Charter (Közszolgálati Charta). Modeled after international public service governance structures – most notably the operational framework of the BBC – this instrument is designed to provide a comprehensive, legally codified definition of the public service remit and programming standards.

- The formation and membership of the Public Service Council: to operationalise the newly introduced social oversight system, the Act establishes a reconfigured, 18-member Public Service Council (Közszolgálati Tanács). This body is formally tasked with drafting and adopting the Public Service Charter, as well as conducting annual compliance and performance reviews of the public service media providers. An annex appended to the Act strictly enumerates the specific national civil, academic, and cultural organisations empowered to delegate representatives to this 18-member council. These designated bodies include the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Magyar Tudományos Akadémia – MTA), the historically recognised churches, the Hungarian Olympic Committee (Magyar Olimpiai Bizottság – MOB), and the Hungarian Rectors' Conference (Magyar Rektori Konferencia).

- Open-call selection procedures: future executive leaders and board members, specifically for the head and members of the Media Council, the President of the NMHH, and the executive bodies of the public service media corporations, will be selected through public, open-tender competitive selection processes designed to evaluate professional qualifications.

- The establishment of the Independent Public Media Board: a new supervisory body, the Independent Public Media Board (Független Közmédia Testület), is established to monitor the institutional independence and financial management of public service media. This body is granted explicit statutory authority to review and approve high-value commercial contracts. The membership of the board is split into distinct nomination quotas: three members are nominated by the governing party and three members by opposition parties for a tenure of four years, while an additional three members are nominated by media professional organisations for a tenure of five years.

- The creation of the Press Fund: a new financial support mechanism, the Press Fund (Sajtóalap), is established under the administrative management of the NMHH. The primary statutory task of the Press Fund is to distribute financial support and funding to various independent media outlets.

The legislative text explicitly states that it accepts and incorporates the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2024/1083 of the European Parliament and of the Council (European Media Freedom Act – EMFA) – against which Hungary has initiated an annulment action before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) – particularly those regarding the independent and impartial operation of public service media and the transparent functioning of national media regulatory authorities.

The structural updates – including the implementation of objective open-call selection procedures for executive roles, the termination of existing tenures, the establishment of the Public Service Charter, and enhanced pluralistic oversight – intersect directly with the mandates set forth in Article 5 of the EMFA. Under Article 5, member states are required to safeguard the functional and economic independence of public service providers and ensure that management appointment and dismissal processes prevent political interference. The alignment of these newly introduced domestic administrative, appointment, and funding structures with the procedural standards and transparency criteria defined by the EMFA remains subject to the ongoing monitoring and assessment frameworks implemented by the European Commission and the European Board for Media Services. Furthermore, the establishment of the Independent Public Media Board to oversee funding and the creation of the NMHH-managed Press Fund to support independent outlets relate to the structural principles set out in Article 4 (safeguards for independent media) and Article 3 of the EMFA.