Gabriella Vidus has led RTL Hungary as CEO for over 10 years, having joined the company in a sales role in 2000. In a recent interview with the Hungarian online site Portfolio, she shares a comprehensive view of the country’s evolving media landscape following the recent national election that overthrew the Fidesz government led by Viktor Orbán for the past 16 years. Her insights offer a view into how RTL Hungary is navigating both external changes and internal strategic evolution.

➡️ Read the full interview here.

🔹Gradual restructuring of the media market

Looking ahead, Gabriella Vidus expects significant changes in the media landscape to unfold gradually over time, as part of a longer-term transformation already underway.

A central element of this shift is the role of the state, which she sees as currently too dominant both as an advertiser and a funding source. She argues for a more market-driven environment, where competition plays a greater role: “The state should step back in all areas where the market can fulfill its role, and in my view, media is one such sector.”

Whilst acknowledging that public advertising exists in all countries, she highlights that its current scale in Hungary is unusual: “What has existed so far is by no means normal, namely that the state is the largest advertiser in the country.” Going forward, she stresses that allocation should follow transparent, professional, and market-based criteria, aligned with reach and campaign objectives.

Although a transition could lead to short-term fluctuations in spending, Gabriella underlines that RTL Hungary is well positioned to adapt, as state advertising has become less significant within its increasingly diversified revenue mix: “state advertising revenues do not carry such significant weight compared to our total revenues, so their decrease will not cause any disruption to our operations.”

🔹A diversified and evolving business model

Over the past decade, RTL Hungary has significantly transformed its revenue structure, evolving from a business largely centred on linear TV advertising into a more balanced model with multiple income streams. As Gabriella explains: “Today, RTL already has three main sources of revenue: in addition to the two previously mentioned linear TV revenue streams – advertising and distribution – these are complemented by subscription fees collected through our streaming service, the RTL+ platform, which was launched in 2022.” This streaming pillar has become a significant contributor, supported by a rapidly growing subscriber base that now exceeds 700,000. 

The continued expansion of RTL+ sits at the heart of this transformation, reflecting both strong overall growth and a strategic response to shifting viewer habits. The introduction of an ad-supported subscription tier has further accelerated this development, opening up new commercial opportunities: “By introducing an ad-supported subscription package on RTL+, we are now also able to serve CTV advertisements.” This positions RTL Hungary to capitalise on the fast-growing connected TV (CTV) segment, which is expected to be the fastest-growing area of digital advertising in the coming years.