The two largest parliamentary parties Fidesz and MSZP are preparing the final text of a new media law to be voted in by Parliament before the end of this year, reports Index.hu. Despite aspects of the law that will curtail their freedoms, media market players are satisfied with the text, and political parties are also likely to reach an agreement on it. The law would create a new media authority with many more rights than its predecessor, media watchdog the ORTT.

Based on a version of the text acquired by the news portal, the National Media Authority (Nemzeti Médiahatóság) would have the right to seize media servers and copy data on them and on computers of employees. It will also allow inspectors to perform house searches with the help of police, if permitted by the courts.

Media and service providers asked by the portal do not see a problem with the above changes. In exchange for the funding benefits, they are ready to surrender some of their freedom. They also think that the text of the law will be fine-tuned and is already more favorable than the first version, which would have allowed political parties to delegate supervisors to individual media market players. These supervisors would have had a say in programming.

The two national commercial channels TV2 and RTL Klub are pushing for the law because it will allow them to launch new channels next year. The current law passed in 1997 restricts the number of channels offered by a single broadcaster.

The new law would also benefit national commercial radio stations whose broadcasting permits are scheduled to expire at the end of next year. Their frequencies would be subject to a new tender process unless the new media law includes an exemption in the event that they switch to digital broadcasting, extending their existing analog broadcasting contracts by six years or until the analog network is switched off.