Blue savings hammer

Blue savings hammer: “All that remains of ORF is a skeleton”

The head of the Green Foundation Board, Lothar Lockl, warns against further savings plans.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/APA)

According to blue plans, the state broadcaster is to save up to 150 million euros. Now the head of the foundation board, Lothar Lockl, is urgently warning against a radical cut: "Then all that will be left is an ORF skeleton!" Austrian Tatort crime thrillers, Universum episodes or the broadcast of Star Night would be at risk.

FPÖ grandee Christian Hafenecker had famously issued the savings plan for ministries as a bar for the public broadcaster. The black negotiators, however, only want to freeze the budget levy from the new legislative period in 2027 and not adjust it to inflation. The media negotiators from both parties will meet for the second time on Friday.

The blue savings hammer provides for between 100 and 150 million euros less for the ORF, depending on whether it is calculated solely from the budget levy or from the billion-euro budget. This set alarm bells ringing at the Vienna headquarters on Küniglberg. The Editors' Council spoke of "the destruction beginning". A petition to preserve the state broadcaster was also launched.

Impending end for domestic TV productions
Now Lothar Lockl, head of the Green Foundation Board, has also come forward with an urgent warning: "If this happens, we will no longer be able to maintain the usual scope of services. Then all that will be left of ORF will be a skeleton!" A tough 325 million savings package is already being implemented over the next few years. Additional cuts would result in program cuts. Austrian episodes of Tatort, Universum and Bergdoktor as well as sports coverage and the broadcast of Star Night would be called into question.

The Constitutional Court has also made it clear that the state has an obligation to provide the ORF with sufficient financial resources to fulfill its public service mandate.

Lothar Lockl

Bild: Zwefo

The former election campaign strategist of Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen also emphasizes: "The Constitutional Court has also made it clear that the state has an obligation to provide the ORF with sufficient financial resources to fulfil its public service mandate. This makes it clear that radical cuts that lead to a complete program cut are not in line with constitutional provisions."

Thomas Zach, head of the ÖVP circle of friends on the Board of Trustees, takes the same line: "If the ORF had not massively cut costs in recent years, it would have expenses of EUR 1.5 billion today. This was made possible by the massive efficiency increases in the structures demanded by the Board of Trustees. And this course will be continued!"

Smiling for the cameras: The blue foundation board member Peter Westenthaler and ORF boss Roland Weißmann at the Jägerball in the Vienna Hofburg

(Bild: Tischler Andreas/Andreas Tischler / Vienna Press)

Appeal to blue-black government negotiators
Program cuts would have massive consequences for sport, culture and the regions. Only if sporting and cultural events are visible on TV will regional organizers be able to obtain sponsorship income to finance these events. The Green Board of Trustees: "The loss of ORF sports rights would not only have massive consequences for the sports associations, but also for domestic tourism."

The same applies to the film and music industry, which is already struggling with funding cuts. Cutting ORF productions would be an additional blow. "As unpleasant as these effects are, it is my duty to point them out clearly and in good time. I ask all negotiators to be aware of the consequences of further massive cuts for the Austrian audience and the domestic cultural and sports scene," Lockl said urgently.

The big economic threat to the Austrian and European media is rather the tech giants from the USA and China, who siphon off over 90 percent of online advertising revenue with digital platforms. The Green Board of Trustees: "If there is to continue to be a strong ORF and strong domestic media, we need not only savings targets but also the means to maintain the public service program mandate."

Please wait for the abolition of the budget levy
Meanwhile, the Freedom Party's prestige project on the way to the Chancellery - the abolition of the unpopular ORF levy - will have to wait due to the tight budget. FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl received the most applause at the New Year's address for his renewed announcement. Now the compulsory fee could only be reduced as a first step and only be completely abolished in two years' time.

The funny thing about this is that funding from the budget financed by us taxpayers would mean that the ORF would once again become politically dependent, something that all parties always complain about.