Despite a billion in revenue, the ORF is suddenly threatened with a whopping 17 million euros – after a previously expected zero-sum game for this year. Managing Director Roland Weißmann: “The austerity course must be continued.”
Tomorrow, Thursday, the foundation board will meet – next week the controversial ORF law with the household contribution “for everyone” from January 2024 instead of the previous GIS fee will be waved through by the government through the National Council.
General manager Weißmann has to deliver bad financial news to the politically dominated regulator. For the first time since 2016 under predecessor Alexander Wrabetz, the media giant sank into the red in 2023. A zero-sum game or a black zero was previously expected, but no less than minus 17 million euros is now expected for this year.
And that despite a calculated turnover of exactly 1,006,800,000 or one billion and almost seven million euros. Of this, about 670 million (710 million is expected next year) – two thirds of the revenue – is attributable to the previous mandatory levy. Weißmann about the “Krone”: “We are not getting more money than before from new advertising caps on the radio and online. The austerity course must be continued.”
As reported, the state radio must scrap 325 million euros within four years. With the minus this year even more. The red figures are fueled by a decline in TV advertising.
The second item on the agenda of the Supervisory Board is Strategy 2030 under the motto “ORF for everyone”. “We will evolve from a classic program to a streaming platform, so that everyone sees or hears what they want and when they want it,” says Weißmann.
When it comes to public satisfaction, Küniglberg still has a long way to go. According to an internal survey, a quarter thinks ‘rather/not at all important’ that there is a public broadcaster in Austria.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
