Television

Hungarian Film & Television

Course 1 · Chapter 7 · Television: From Magyar Televízió to Szomszédok

Television came to Hungary in the 1950s and became, within two decades, the main shared screen of the country. For most of the socialist period viewers had one or two state channels, and what they watched in the evening was a common experience that older Hungarians still recall. This chapter follows the start of regular broadcasting, the serials, quiz shows and dramas of the state years, the soap opera Szomszédok, and the arrival of commercial channels after 1989. Names and dates are from general knowledge and flagged "check".

The State Years

Regular broadcasting

Hungarian Television (Magyar Televízió, MTV) began regular broadcasts in 1957 (check the date; earlier test transmissions took place in the mid-1950s). Sets were expensive at first, and viewing was often shared among neighbours.

Channels and colour

A second channel opened in the early 1970s, and colour broadcasting spread during the 1970s (check the dates). The small number of channels meant that large audiences watched the same programme at the same time.

State control

As with film, television was state-owned and supervised, and the evening news, drama and entertainment all operated within official limits (check how supervision worked in practice).

What People Watched

  • Serials and adventure series. Dramatised adventure serials for young viewers, such as A Tenkes kapitánya (The Captain of Tenkes, 1964) and Tüskevár (1967), became well-remembered favourites (check the titles and dates).
  • Literary adaptations and telefilms. Television made many adaptations of Hungarian novels and plays, which brought literature (see Hungarian Literature) to a mass audience.
  • Crime and detective series. Police dramas were a popular form, though they had to avoid some subjects (check examples).
  • Entertainment and quizzes. Variety shows, quiz programmes and New Year's Eve programmes were fixed events in the calendar.
  • Imported programmes. Foreign series and films were shown dubbed into Hungarian, and some became firm favourites (check which).
  • Children's television. Cartoons, puppet shows and educational programmes (Chapter 6 and Hungarian Animation & Children's Television 8).

Szomszédok

Point (check each)Note
What it isSzomszédok (Neighbours) was a long-running Hungarian television serial about the residents of an apartment block, which began in 1987 (check) and ran for more than a decade.
Why it mattersIt is often called the first Hungarian soap opera, in a form that mixed everyday comedy and drama, and it ran across the end of the old system (check how it is classified).
SettingThe apartment block of the story reflects the housing estates in which many Hungarians lived (check).
AfterlifeLines and characters entered everyday speech, and its theme tune and cast are widely recalled (check the details).
Television and shared memory Where only one or two channels exist, a hit programme becomes a shared reference. Historians and sociologists sometimes call this "common culture" and note that it faded as channels multiplied (check the sources for the term). The claim that "everyone watched the same thing" should be tested: viewing figures, reruns and the habits of different groups all matter.

After 1989

  • New public service. Hungarian Television continued as a public broadcaster, and a second public channel for Hungarian-language audiences abroad (Duna Televízió) opened in 1992 (check).
  • Commercial channels. Commercial national channels such as RTL Klub and TV2 began in the late 1990s after a media law was passed in 1996 (check the dates).
  • Cable and satellite. Foreign channels and cable packages arrived, and audiences split among many channels.
  • Politics and the media. The structure and independence of broadcasting have been argued over since 1989, and the story is still unfolding (see Chapter 9; check the current position).
A British comparison The British pattern is close in outline: the BBC began regular broadcasting in the 1930s, ITV arrived in 1955 and Channel 4 in 1982, and for many years a few channels gave the country shared programmes such as Coronation Street and Christmas specials. Hungary's difference was the state monopoly and the later, sudden arrival of commercial rivals in the 1990s (check).
Check the details Dates, titles and channel histories are from general knowledge, and television history is poorly documented compared with film because early broadcasts were rarely kept. Verify against broadcaster archives and histories, and treat claims about audiences and "everyone watched" with care.

Exercises

Exercise 1

Describe how the structure of Hungarian television in the socialist period shaped what viewers watched and how they remember it.

→ Solution
Exercise 2

Explain what makes Szomszédok historically interesting and how you would check the claim that it was the first Hungarian soap.

→ Solution
Exercise 3

Compare Hungarian television before and after 1989 in terms of channels, ownership and audience habits.

→ Solution

Quick Reference

  • Start: regular broadcasts from 1957 (check)
  • Era: one or two state channels, shared evening viewing
  • Hit: Szomszédok from 1987 (check)
  • After 1989: public service, then commercial channels in the 1990s (check)
  • The caution: "everyone watched" needs evidence