TVN founded as Echo TVN as a business news channel in 2005[4] at the initiative of Gábor Széles, the 4th richest man of Hungary (as of 2017) and the head of Videoton and Ikarus Bus.[2] 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.[5] Széles reportedly spent two billion Hungarian forints in creating Echo TV.[6]
In 2006 Echo TV became a media partner of Feratel media technologies AG, based in Austria.[7]
Gábor Széles sold Echo TV to Fidesz-backed businessman and oligarch Lőrinc Mészáros on December 2, 2016.[2]
On December 4, 2017, the whole channel was renewed.[8] 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.[9]
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.[11]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.[12] Sándor Pörzse was removed from the Echo TV in 2009.[13]
One of Echo TV's better known broadcasters was Ferenc Szaniszló, known for his racist and anti-Semitic statements.[10][14][15][16][17][18] In 2011, Hungary's media regulator fined Echo 500,000 Forints after Szaniszló compared Roma people to "monkeys".[19]
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