as press agent for the Fidesz parliamentary group, and from 2014 as press agent for the Prime Minister's Office; and in 2014, anchorwoman Éva Kurucz became the spokeswoman for Viktor Orbán's third government. In 2015, there was a breakdown in relationships between prime minister Orbán and the owner of Hír TV, Lajos Simicska, who had previously been head of Hungary's internal tax revenue service (APEH) in Orbán's first government; the dispute caused the channel's political stance to be modified. Since September 2015, the channel has been increasingly critical against the government and open to left-wing and right-wing intellectuals and opinions. After the station was sold to the KESMA holding, the channel turned back to its pro-government stance, a move which became more evident after its merger with Echo TV. Many of its pundits also moved to the station after the merger to continue with its own opinionated shows broadcast on the former Echo TV, including Balzsay Károly, Bayer Zsolt, Liebmann Katalin, Lomnici Zoltán, Kiszelly Zoltán and Kadarkai Endre, and many former anchors returned to host shows as part of the new programming. References External links Official Site Television networks in Hungary 24-hour television news channels Television channels and stations established in 2003 2003 establishments in Hungary Mass media in Budapest