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Axel Springer and Ringier to pursue merger

April 28, 2013
Blog
Hungarian Media Monitor

Axel Springer AG and Ringier AG, two multinational media firms with extensive print media holdings in Hungary, are preparing to merge their Hungarian operations by the end of 2013, according to Hungarian economic daily, Napi Gazdaság. The companies first announced plans to merge its Central and Eastern European media operations in 2010 in hopes of expanding their footing in the region’s media market. The merger took place in neighboring countries but was blocked by the Hungarian Media Council in 2011 on grounds it would jeopardize the public’s “right to diverse information.” The companies withdrew their merger request but signaled their intention to pursue the deal in the future.

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Axel Springer-Ringer pursue merger

April 28, 2013
Hungarian Media Monitor
Blog

Axel Springer AG and Ringier AG, two multinational media firms with extensive print media holdings in Hungary, are preparing to merge their Hungarian operations by the end of 2013, according to Hungarian economic daily, Napi Gazdaság. The companies first announced plans to merge its Central and Eastern European media operations in 2010 in hopes of expanding their footing in the region’s media market.

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Secrecy over new left-wing web portal stirs media hype

April 24, 2013
Blog
Hungarian Media Monitor

Since announcing his plans in February, the editor of a left-leaning Hungarian news portal set to launch in May remains evasive about details of the new outlet, including its financial backing and ownership. The new outlet will be headed by former Index editor-in-chief Péter Uj and includes a team of former Index journalists. Uj’s new operation could rival Index, Hungary’s top online news portal, in the competition for left-wing readers and advertisers, especially during the upcoming 2014 election season.

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Government official files libel suit against newspaper, reader over online comment

April 18, 2013
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János Lázár, Secretary of State for the Hungarian Prime Minister’s office, has filed a civil libel suit against a newspaper and a criminal libel claim against a reader for online comments made in reaction to an article about the politician’s involvement in a fatal car accident last year. As first reported by Cink.hu, Hungarian officials have also interrogated six additional readers who submitted comments to the article on the newspaper's website.

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Media Authority to reshape Hungary’s mobile market

April 18, 2013
Hungarian Media Monitor
Blog

The Hungarian Media Authority announced this week it will change the license terms  for the country’s three mobile phone companies when the companies’ contracts come up for renewal in October 2014. The measure comes as part of the media regulator’s ongoing push to reorganize Hungary’s mobile telecoms market by adding a fourth market player, which the Media Authority says is necessary to boost competition. In 2012, the Media Authority awarded a new mobile frequency to a group of state companies, but a court later ruled the regulator’s tender procedure was illegal.

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