Dezső Pintér, an early organizer of TV2 and the commercial broadcaster’s first president, has died at 77. He led the channel until 2004 and earlier hosted a morning radio programme for two decades.
Dezső Pintér, the first president of Hungary’s TV2 television channel, has died at the age of 77. The news was reported by Blikk and republished by Hungarian outlet 24.hu.
Pintér took part in preparations for TV2 from the mid-1990s and became its first head after the channel launched. He left the post in 2004. Earlier in his career, he worked as a journalist at Magyar Hírlap and later hosted the programme Krónika.
He joined Hungarian Radio in 1977 and hosted the Kossuth radio station’s morning programme until 1997. TV2 began broadcasting on October 4, 1997, three days before RTL Klub launched. Pintér greeted viewers in the first official images broadcast by TV2.
Hungary’s parliament passed a media law on December 21, 1995, allowing two nationwide commercial television channels to operate alongside the previously dominant state broadcaster Magyar Televízió. According to 24.hu, 90% of lawmakers supported the legislation.