"Netflix model" needed

Calls louder: “No more public euros for ORF”

Vienna's FPÖ leader Dominik Nepp "hardly watches any public broadcasts".

(Bild: APA/Georg Hochmuth, Krone KREATIV)

Herbert Kickl promises an end to the ORF "compulsory tax". The Viennese FPÖ leader Dominik Nepp wants to go one step further. He is calling for a strict payment model instead of public service broadcasting. ORF should prove its quality as the "Austrian Netflix".

We can't live with or without each other - this is the title of one of talk show host Barbara Karlich's countless programs. And it also fits the special relationship between the FPÖ and ORF, who have always given each other nothing. At the Küniglberg, concerns about a government led by the Freedom Party are omnipresent. Because that would mean that everyone there would have to tighten their belts.

Household tax "not yet paid in"?
"Public broadcasting is to be financed from the federal budget, with significantly reduced funding," Herbert Kickl said last year, for example. And it was only during his Ash Wednesday speech that he recently called for the new ORF fee "not yet" to be paid, to thunderous applause. Because he would be the one to abolish it. A breach of the law that can only be warned against - in view of the impending penalties. 

Dominik Nepp and Herbert Kickl

(Bild: APA/HERBERT NEUBAUER)

Public broadcaster to become like Netflix
The Vienna FPÖ is adding a financial diet to Kickl's slimming cure for the public broadcaster. The party leader is only a little reserved in the "Krone" interview. He says: "ORF should switch to the same payment model as Netflix. Those who want to watch it should pay. Those who don't, don't." Addendum: "If the ORF superstars, who can do nothing but read from a presenter's card, are really as great as they think they are, then they won't be afraid of this measure." There should be "no more public euros" for ORF, regardless of whether it comes from the federal budget or the household levy.

15.30 euros

is what the Viennese pay per month for ORF. This amounts to 183.60 euros per household per year.

Salaries for Nepp "outrageous"
He comments maliciously on the fact that Nepp would herald the end of the public service remit with the "Netflix ORF": "Where is he with the hundredth repeat of the third season of The Simpsons?" What else he demands: A stop to "outrageous" salaries ("No one should earn more than the Federal Chancellor"). Complete transparency regarding additional income. And an end to the "fee rip-off of entrepreneurs".

"There can only be public broadcasting if it is also financed," Media Minister Susanne Raab countered the FPÖ in parliament at the end of January. "In addition, the ORF has been obliged to save up to 325 million over the next few years." This will make it "leaner and more efficient". For Raab, ORF's "diverse offerings" are "added value for democracy". Nepp: "I don't think so. Young people no longer watch ORF."

Vienna's FPÖ leader Dominik Nepp "hardly watches any public broadcasts".

(Bild: APA/Georg Hochmuth, Krone KREATIV)

Second residence tax divides city hall
The call for salary transparency and criticism of the ORF levy for companies resulted in a remarkable alliance between Nepp and the Vienna NEOS, who are also calling for this. However, like all other parties, they are sticking to financing through levies. Above all, however, the Vienna state parties are concerned about the abolition of the state tax and filling the resulting budget gap with the upcoming second residence tax.

The NEOS are naturally defending the end of the provincial levy, while the SPÖ City Hall Club does not want to comment on this, as on all other ORF issues, and refers to the responsibility of federal politics. From the ÖVP's point of view, only the abolition of the provincial levy without replacement would have been justified, while the Greens would have preferred a vacancy levy. This would have been fairer - and would also have brought in more money for the city, the Greens are convinced.

Kommentar von Michael Pommer

20 Gründe für sofortige Reform

Reruns, old series, TV recycling of dusty programs from the linear dustbin. 20 reasons for rapid program reform - using the example of today, Monday, on ORF 1:
- Wickie and the Strong Men - The Little Whale
- King Julien - The Butterfly Fight (2014)
- Wissper- Wilma is stuck in the ice (2018)
- Wissper - Where is Penguin Paula? (2018)
- Listen to who's hammering - Beloved sisters (1996)
- Listen to Who's Hammering - A Heart of Gold (1996)
- Scrubs -My Bed Relationship (2002)
- Modern Family - Haley's 21st birthday and the guests' maturity test (2014)
- Modern Family - The day we almost died (2015)
- Soko Donau - Murder game (2014)
- Soko Donau - Good Company (2014)
- Monk - Mr. Monk enters the world of fashion (2005)
- Monk - Mr. Monk remembers nothing (2006)
- Monk - Mr. Monk and the secret of a marriage (2006)
- Monk - Mr. Monk on the hunt for the missing jewel (2006)
- Soko Donau - Last performance (2014)
- Soko Donau - Among Sharks (2014)
- Schnell ermittelt - Carlo Michalek (2016)
- 9-1-1 Emergency Call L.A. - Brother and Sister (2021)
- God Friended Me - The Lady Drama (2019)

Plus a new series called "Beasts". Synopsis: "Two sisters from a wealthy background meet two best friends from humble beginnings." Sounds like a public service program mandate!
Household tax sunk on the channel again on Monday.