TV2
TV2, Hungary’s second most popular television broadcaster, competes with the privately owned RTL Klub for the leading position in the country’s television market. The channel began operating in 1997 with a generalist program. Initially, it was owned by ProSiebenSat.1, a German broadcast group. In 2014, TV2 was sold to two investors. A year later, it was acquired by Hungarian filmmaker Andrew G. Vajna. Following Vajna’s passing in 2019, the company was sold to Jozsef Vida.
Media assets
Television: TV2, LiChi TV, FEM3, Jocky TV, Moziverzum, Humor+, Izaura TV, KiWi TV, PRIME, Mozi+, Super TV2, Spiler1 TV, Spiler2 TV
State Media Matrix Typology
Ownership and governance
TV2 is not directly controlled by state structures. It is owned by József Vida, a retired hammer thrower turned businessman and banker, who has close relations with the Fidesz political party of the Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
The chairman of TV2 is Miklós Vaszily, a media oligarch with very close ties to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. In the past, Vaszily has handled several key deals that have aligned major private media outlets with the government. On 22 April 2025, Stanchev stepped down by mutual agreement, and Miklós Vaszily, already chairman of the board, assumed the role of CEO. Vaszily’s dual role further tightened the link between TV2’s management and the Fidesz-aligned business elite.
Source of funding and budget
TV2 is a commercially-run broadcaster that earns revenue from advertising. However, the outlet has also been a major recipient of state advertising funds in recent years, particularly after being purchased by Vajna, a staunch supporter of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. For instance, in 2018, TV2 received 67% of the total revenues from state advertising in the television sector, which amounted to more than half of the channel’s operational expenditure. In contrast, the independent RTL Klub received only 1%.
More recent consolidated financial statements show that in 2023, TV2 achieved sales of HUF 53.3bn (€138m), an increase from the previous year, with EBITDA rising to HUF 20.4bn (€53m) and a net profit of HUF 2bn (€5.2m).
Editorial independence
There is abundant evidence confirming that TV2 has a pro-government agenda. Since it was taken over by Vajna in 2015, it has adopted a pro-government editorial line. Independent journalists have labeled TV2 a government communication channel; independent media outlets also refer to it as a “government-aligned” channel. Before the 2022 elections, several anchors at TV2 publicly encouraged people to vote for Fidesz.
During Stanchev’s tenure as CEO (2019–2025), the group broadened its entertainment portfolio and invested in new program formats, which improved audience reach and digital presence. These moves strengthened TV2’s competitiveness against RTL and diversified its content. At the same time, watchdogs and independent outlets consistently pointed to TV2’s function as a government-friendly broadcaster, particularly in news and political coverage. With Vaszily taking over as CEO in 2025, concerns about editorial alignment with Fidesz’s communication strategy have only intensified.
There is no domestic statute or mechanism of independent assessment or oversight that would validate TV2’s editorial independence.
September 2025