No increase in fees

Government tightens fee screw: concern at ORF

The savings target is bringing ORF "to the edge of the abyss", warns a foundation board member.

(Bild: APA/ROBERT JAEGER)

An impending 220 million euro savings package has the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation in turmoil. The reason: the new government is planning to freeze the ORF contribution until 2029. ORF General Roland Weißmann warns: "We have to turn over every stone!"

The government's plan not to increase the ORF contribution until 2029 has the public broadcaster's board of trustees concerned. ORF Director General Roland Weißmann sees a need for savings of around 220 million from 2027 to 2031.

Duplications must be stopped
For foundation board member Thomas Zach, head of the ÖVP-affiliated "Circle of Friends" and chairman of the finance committee in the foundation board, ORF management has already fulfilled expectations to a certain extent by proactively preparing an analysis of the expected effects of the media chapter in the government program.

ORF General Weissmann recently said that he had to "turn over every stone individually".

(Bild: Klemens Groh)

As many duplications as possible must now be discontinued in order to continue to fulfill the program mandate in the best possible way through efficiency gains. Because: "The benchmark is the best possible program from the audience's point of view," he says in the run-up to the ORF Foundation Council meeting taking place on Thursday. Ideally, no savings should be made in the program at all.

Zach: "Don't bury your head in the sand"
Where the savings pencil will ultimately be applied has not yet been decided. The coming weeks and months will show this, said Zach, who assumes that fewer people will be working at ORF at the end of the next fee period than before - which is also due to natural departures that will not be filled.

In any case, social hardship should be avoided as far as possible, he said with a view to the ORF employees, who had kept the company on a "stable course", not least because of extremely low wage settlements in times of hyperinflation. "It's about timeliness and fairness, but also about not burying our heads in the sand," says Zach.

Lederer does not believe in "hyperactivity"
Foundation board member Heinz Lederer, head of the SPÖ-affiliated "Circle of Friends" on the foundation board, does not believe in "hyperactivity". He advises the management to act as a "calm force". Something will come to the ORF, but: "To be feared to death is also to die." Lederer emphasizes that this is a government project, not a law, and reports that numerous people from the ORF workforce have contacted him with concern.

Without knowing what a possible law would look like, employees are being put "in fear and panic", the Board of Trustees shakes its head. Lederer's impression is that the next wave of cuts is being "longed for".

Pilz sees ORF on the "edge of the abyss"
Sigrid Pilz, who speaks on behalf of foundation councils close to the Greens, considers the government's plan not to increase the ORF contribution to be "completely exaggerated". The almost 220 million euros in savings would bring the ORF "to the edge of the abyss".

"Everything will be questioned in order to achieve this goal. The staff will be offered a (non-golden) handshake," fears the foundation board member. It is also to be feared that the "usual suspects" in the form of the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra (RSO) and FM4 will come under pressure or that Ö1 will face "catastrophic cost-cutting pressure".

Saving pencil already applied
ORF is already saving 80 million euros this year. 104 million euros are planned for 2026. Combined with a non-valorization of the ORF contribution, which currently amounts to 15.30 euros per household per month, we are looking at the "biggest savings package ORF has ever been confronted with", ORF CEO Weißmann recently calculated.