Country | Hungary |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Hungary |
Headquarters | Angol Street 65-69, Budapest, 1149 |
Programming | |
Language(s) | Hungarian |
Picture format | 576i ( 16:9 SDTV) |
Ownership | |
Owner | Echo Hungária TV Zrt (part of Talentis Group) |
History | |
Launched | September 15, 2005 |
Closed | March 31, 2019 |
Former names | TVN (2003–2004) Echo TVN (2004–2005) |
Links | |
Website |
www |
Echo TV was a Christian-conservative [1] Hungarian television channel owned and operated by Echo Hungária TV Zrt, [1] and founded in 2005 to cover business news. [2] Later focusing on news broadcasting and public affairs, it was known as a supporter of Fidesz and KDNP. [3]
TVN founded as Echo TVN as a business news channel in 2005 [4] at the initiative of Gábor Széles, the 4th richest man of Hungary (as of 2017) and the head of Videoton and Ikarus Bus. [2] 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. [5] Széles reportedly spent two billion Hungarian forints in creating Echo TV. [6]
In 2006 Echo TV became a media partner of Feratel media technologies AG, based in Austria. [7]
Gábor Széles sold Echo TV to Fidesz-backed businessman and oligarch Lőrinc Mészáros on December 2, 2016. [2]
On December 4, 2017 the whole channel was renewed. [8] Echo TV ceased operations on March 31, 2019. Its staff and technical equipment were integrated into Hír TV, which had returned as a pro-government media portfolio after the 2018 parliamentary election. [9]
According to Le Monde, Echo TV was a forum favored among neofascists in Hungary. [10]
After the 2010 election in Hungary, Echo TV displayed an image of Imre Kertész, a Hungarian survivor of Auschwitz and nobel laureate, alongside a voiceover about rats. [11] Sándor Pörzse was a well-known host for Echo TV before helping to found Jobbik's paramilitary organization the " Hungarian Guard," later banned by the Hungarian Government. [12] Sándor Pörzse was removed from the Echo TV in 2009. [13]
One of Echo TV's better known broadcasters was Ferenc Szaniszló, known for his racist and anti-Semitic statements. [10] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] In 2011, Hungary's media regulator fined Echo 500,000 Forints after Szaniszló compared Roma people to "monkeys". [19]