04-10-2010

Hungary's TV2 appoints new general director

By Zsolt Gyenge

    BUDAPEST - After several months of head-hunting Zsolt Simon, the former head of an advertising agency, has been chosen to chair Hungary's second biggest commercial television, TV2 (http://tv2.hu/).

    He replaces Zoltán Várdy, whose three-year contract was not renewed by the ProSiebenSat1 group. The outgoing director had promised to win the rating war against commercial station RTL Klub (http://rtlklub.hu/).

    The appointment (effective as of 25 October 2010) of an advertising executive indicates the station will rely on increasing advertising revenues through negotiations with advertisers rather than creating a new programming structure.

    Competition between the main commercial TV stations has been especially strong this season, with both have launching similar singing contest shows in the same time slot. According to industry specialists, attracting the largest audience for this format could assure the leading position for a longer time on the Hungarian advertising market.