TV stations in Hungary have in recent years experienced “a veritable flood of advertising”.
The specific period in question, according to a long-term study between 2006-2022 by the regulator NMHH, was 2014-19. Prior to this, TV stations carried a total of less than 1.3 million ads a year, with the only exception being the financial crisis in 2019, when the number of spots fell by 13%.
NMHH notes that the most striking trend is that the willingness to advertise has risen sharply despite a fall in TV viewership.
The regulator analysed the TV stations ATV, Cool, Discovery Channel, Duna, Film+, M1, M2, Minimax, National Geographic, RTL, Spektrum, Sport1, Sport2, TV2 and Viasat3. In 2022, classic advertisements accounted for 13% of the airtime on the examined media.
Most advertisements were broadcast by thematic channels (18%), but not far behind were national commercial television stations (16%).
