Originally founded as a state enterprise in 1957, MTV is the first national public service television broadcaster of Hungary. MTV has undergone some changes since 1957, like Hungary itself. Currently, MTV is a publically owned national broadcaster, but in legal form it is a limited private company. The official owner of MTV is the Hungarian Parliament - making parliamentary delegates members of the non-operating Board of MTV. 1700 people are employed by MTV working on two television channels - M1 (Terrestrial Analogue) and M2 (Satellite) and viewed by around 70% of Hungarian households around the globe. Since the 2008 Olympics, Hungary has been able to broadcast in HD - pioneering the public service broadcasting experience forthe audience to higher quality television. The switch to digital telvision will be made complete with the move to the new MTV headquarters.
In Hungary there is no system of licence fees, instead the national Hungarian Budget provides for public media. MTV's operational budget is €120 Million/annum.