Echo TV

History

Echo TV was 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. 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 forints in creating Echo TV.

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

Gábor Széles sold Echo TV to Fidesz-backed businessman and oligarch Lőrinc Mészáros 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, which had returned as a pro-government media portfolio after the 2018 parliamentary election.

Association with far-right politics

According to Le Monde, Echo TV was a forum favored among neofascists in Hungary.

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. 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. 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

References

1. [https://magyaridok.hu/belfold/hazank-legfrissebb-televizioja-lett-kereszteny-konzervativ-echo-2533918/ HAZÁNK LEGFRISSEBB TELEVÍZIÓJA LETT A KERESZTÉNY-KONZERVATÍV ECHO - András Kárpáti - Magyar Idők]
2. [http://magyarhirlap.hu/cikk/73204/Nemzeti_erok_egyesitese_Uj_tulajdonosa_van_az_Echo_Televizionak Nemzeti erők egyesítése: Új tulajdonosa van az Echo Televíziónak - Tamás Pindroch] - [[Magyar Hírlap]]
3. [https://magyaridok.hu/belfold/uj-tulajdonosa-van-az-echo-tv-nek-1225000/ Új tulajdonosa van az Echo TV-nek - Magyar Idők]
4. (3 June 2005). "Rövidesen indul az ECHO TV".
5. (19 September 2005). "Gábor Széles buys daily Magyar Hirlap". MTI Econews.
6. (1 December 2005). "Széles to Start TV Channel". EASTBUSINESS.ORG.
7. (22 December 2006). "Ots news: feratel media technologies AG". AWP OTS.
8. [https://magyaridok.hu/interju/palyara-megujulo-echo-tv-2427385/ PÁLYÁRA ÁLL A MEGÚJULÓ ECHO TV - Attila Borsodi - Magyar Idők]
9. [https://24.hu/belfold/2019/04/01/hir-tv-echo-tv/ Megszűnt az Echo TV, ám a Hír TV dolgozóit bocsátották el]
10. Stolz, Joelle. (29 March 2012). "Prime au fascisme en Hongrie". M - Le Monde.
11. (14 October 2010). "Budapest Experiences A New Wave of Hate". Spiegel Online International.
12. Oehmke, Philipp. (16 December 2011). "Hungary's Right-Wing War on Culture". Spiegel Online International.
13. (20 March 2011). "Ki védi meg az Echo Tv-t?".
14. (24 March 2013). "Tancsics Prize returned".
15. (18 March 2013). "Anger at Hungarian journalist prize". BBC News.
16. (17 March 2013). "Hungarian government awards Tancsics prize for journalism to notorious".
17. "Hungarian journalist to return state honor, denies anti-Semitism".
18. (20 March 2013). "Hungary asks reporter to return award over anti-Semitism row". Reuters.
19. (17 March 2013). "Hungary sparks outrage with honours for far-right figures". Agence France Presse.