Broadband TV News returns to the Hungarian capital, Budapest, later this month for the latest in its series of business breakfasts, organised jointly with Telenor Satellite Broadcasting.
As someone who has followed developments in the Hungarian TV industry closely since 1989, I can vouch for it being an interesting and indeed unique market on many levels.
The reasons for this probably date back to the 1990s, which was a critical period for the development of the broadcasting across the region. While countries such as Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic were quick to launch national commercial TV services, Hungary decided to hold back until the latter part of the decade.
This allowed the country to develop a large cable industry and – just as importantly – become a hotbed for thematic channels. Not many people know, for instance, that it was the first market outside the US to launch HBO.
Today, Hungary’s cable industry remains dynamic, while the content market continues to flourish, being the headquarters, for instance, of Chello Central Europe.
It also has a vibrant DTH sector, which has been boosted in the last few months by a new interactive platform operated by Magyar Telekom’s T-Home. This, as we report this week, has boosted the number of T-Home subscribers receiving interactive services – the incumbent also operates an IPTV platform – to over 250,000, with the figure is likely to rise much further.
Hungary is also making rapid progress in its transition to digital broadcasting, boosted by a DTT platform that is enjoying particular success with its paid offer, known as MinDig TV Extra. Just a month ago, it already had almost 60,000 subscribers.
All these issues and much more will be discussed at the business breakfast, which will be held at the Marriott Hotel on Thursday, April 19. For further details, and to register for free, please go to:
