The Eighth Tribe, 1979 (6. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1979-05-01 / 5. szám
May, 1979 THE EIGHTH TRIBE Pag» 9 HUNGARIAN TV Not on Monday, No, not, never Hungary is different from other countries on several points. Beside the fact that they speak Hun* garian (a language without relatives that I know of) there is no TV on Monday. The reason for lack of TV on Monday is rather cloudy, without a definite answer; About seventy percent of Hungarians are TV viewers and what they do on Monday nights is a good question. Maybe they go to the movies, libraries, museums? Maybe they persue the world wide sport of making love. The number of Russian divisions stationed in Hungary is not advertised. We do not know the Hungarian birthrate in relation to Monday nights. But we do know that their birthrate Í6 one of the lowest in the world. Knowledgeable people might say it is connected to the great number of house guests the Hungarians have been entertaining for the last thirty or so years. (The number of Russian divisions stationed in Hungary is not advertised). After all who can relax and make love with so many people watching. The pros and cons for lack of TV on Monday will have to be pursued without the highly individualistic Magyars who at the present time are too busy tring to figure out what they mean by socialismcommunism. The Rumanians are holding two and half million Hungarians in Babylonian captivity Hungarians can receive television transmission from four countries. Czechoslovakia, Rumania, Yugoslavia and Austria. All of these countries have fairly large Hungarian population. The largest number of Hungarian minority is in Transylvania, now part of Rumania. The Rumanians are holding tw’o and half million Hungarians in Babylonian captivity. The Hungarian state owned version of TV guide actually carries programs of the Czech and Yugoslav TV. Rumania, the arch enemy is excluded so is Austria, the capitalistic tool. The result is to put pressure on Magyar Televisio (MTV) to program entertainment or sports at times when others are programing entertainment and sports to hold the audience. The programer for MTV (feminist please note) is an energetic lady, Mrs. István Székely. MTV knows how well it holds the audience by maintaining a rotating panel of fifteen hundred viewers to report on the watching habits of the population. Half the programs on Magyar TV is locally made and the other half is imported. To date the only American program “Richinan, Poorman'’ has made it to the Hungarian Air. But there are lots of films of all countries, some dubbed, some carried in their own language with titles and an introduction in Hungarian. Producing entertainment in a unique language with a base of not much over ten million people presents a financial problem. The Hungarians have found two viable solutions; the imaginative contests and the extant theatrical presentation. One of the most popular of all MTV programs is "What Can He Do”. Young performers from all over the country are presented on the air to a jury that takes account of votes received from viewers. All participants must be non-professionals, but a number of winners have gone on to become wellknown entertainers. The most spectacular of the MTV contest in our opinion lias been an international competition for young symphonic conductors. Each contestant rehearsed and then performed with MTV’s own orchestra one set piece for everyone, then one piece individually selected. There have been two contests, the first won by a Canadian, the second by a Japanese. Hungary's use of live theater for television must lie the greatest in the world. Approximately fortyseven new productions are presented every year. This represents about forty percent of all the plays professionally put together. A law gives MTV an access to every theater. In effect the television system buys a performance at a nominal price. Hungarian authors, who receive all kinds of goodies from the state, sell their copyright at a fixed price. This doesn’t sound very fair, hut what’s fair in this unperfect world? Foreign authors are negotiated with. Only about thirty percent of the Hungarian telecasts are in color and most of that is imported film. In Hungary the national theater and regional stale operated theaters play an important part in the society. As a final note we hope that the Hungarians will hold steadfast to “not on Mondays”, (TV of course). E. C. C.
