Lucrative side jobs

How ORF presenters supplement their salaries

Robert Kratky is the ORF's salary emperor - but his Ö3 colleague Andi Knoll is ahead in terms of additional income.

(Bild: Starpix / picturedesk.com)

Many presenters at public broadcasters also have well-paid side jobs. Andi Knoll is busy here, the Ö3 presenter earns 9600 gross per month and thus tops the list of additional income.

The atmosphere on the Küniglberg has certainly been better in the past. Since the publication of the complete list of all 62 top earners at ORF, an emotional debate has flared up as to whether the salaries of the salary emperors, who are mainly financed by taxpayers' money, are justified.

However, for some ORF stars, it is not only their main job that is lucrative, but also their side income - including presenting, presentations or advertising deals. Surprisingly, it is not salary emperor Robert Kratky who leads the way here, but his colleague Andi Knoll. In addition to an annual gross salary of 190,242.08 euros, he earns an average of 9600 euros per month (also gross).

Robert Kratky (right) is the pay emperor at ORF - but his Ö3 colleague Andi Knoll is ahead in terms of additional income.

(Bild: Starpix / picturedesk.com)

Wehrschütz is also a busy man away from ORF
In 2nd and 3rd place: Ö3 alarm clock Kratky with 8500 euros and Ukraine correspondent Christian Wehrschütz with 5983 euros average monthly gross income from secondary employment. In 2023, the regular gross salary of both men amounted to EUR 443,894.39 (Kratky) and EUR 197,489.84 (Wehrschütz).

They are followed by director Kurt Pongratz with a provisional range of 4001 to 8000 euros, "ZiB 2" anchorman Armin Wolf with 3837.80 euros and ORF security officer Pius Strobl with 2500 euros.

The other ancillary incomes listed range from around EUR 660 (Head of Department Martin Traxl) downwards - around EUR 386.67 and EUR 232 gross per month for senior editors Hans Bürger and Peter Fritz respectively, EUR 199.25 for Regional Director Gerhard Koch (Styria) and EUR 165.64 for Head of Department Michael Krön.

Some of the top earners have additional incomes of less than 100 euros - such as correspondent Ernst Gelegs (25 euros per month, annual salary around 174,000 euros) or Peter Resetarits with 64.17 euros (annual salary 210,043.12 euros). Regional director Markus Klement (Vorarlberg), for example, is on 1.74 euros. The majority of the top earners at ORF do not have a second job. 

Kratky also earns more than the Director General
It is no April Fool's joke that Ö3-Weckermann Robert Kratky - as revealed last week - earns an annual salary of EUR 443,894.39, which is around EUR 31,700 per month or just under twelve times that of the average earner. Incidentally, this is more than ORF Director General Roland Weißmann receives and almost double that of his Radio Director Ingrid Thurnher, if one also takes into account the additional income. Thurnher, for example, has none.

This salary system also explains a certain imbalance, because a young star like "ZiB" presenter Tobias Pötzelsberger has an annual salary of "only" 75,000 euros. "ZiB" presenter Tarek Leitner and Nadja Bernhard also do not appear on the list of those earning more than €170,000.

Additional earnings will be limited in future
ORF argues that the high salaries are due to expensive, but often fixed-term contracts. In addition, it is only about 1.3 percent of the approximately 4000 employees (including subsidiaries). Some managers are responsible for hundreds of employees and budgets of up to hundreds of millions. Additional earnings are now limited by new ethics rules anyway.

It is to be feared that the publication of this report will lead to further polemics and even personal attacks on ORF employees, which I, as Director General, oppose. The ORF will also take legal action against any statements or even threats against individual employees that could damage their reputation.

ORF-Generaldirektor Roland Weißmann

Bild: GEORG HOCHMUTH / APA / picturedesk.com

Luxury salaries become a political issue: "Weißmann must clean up now"
Nevertheless, the publication of ORF salaries has turned the Küniglberg and its stars into a political issue. Media Minister Susanne Raab (ÖVP) considers it "good and right that the new law will finally provide the highest possible transparency at ORF, also with regard to top salaries".

ÖVP Secretary General Christian Stocker noted the imbalances that have become apparent in this regard and stated: "The exorbitant salaries at ORF must come to an end. It is up to the ORF management to clarify who approved these dream salaries and how they came about." Weißmann must clean up the "salary excesses".

For FPÖ Secretary General Christian Hafenecker, the published salaries are "downright obscene". Among other things, he focused on the additional income. "We should actually consider offsetting the additional jobs against the ORF salary," he suggested.