It is currently likely that the ORF will collect the new ORF contribution from fewer households than the legislator expected. In concrete terms, the public media company would be missing approximately 180,000 contributors. This means that revenues are also lower than expected, increasing the pressure on ORF to save money.
A “significant double-digit million amount” is missing compared to the legislature’s prediction, which was based on approximately 4 million households having to pay. According to calculations by ‘Standaard’, this results in a missing amount of around 33 million euros.
OBS calculated with less
The ORF subsidiary GIS or now OBS would have expected fewer – namely 3.8 million – households based on its data. Due to the gap, the ORF will now likely fall back on reserves to reach a black zero this year and in the coming years.
According to the ORF law, the public media company can only apply for a contribution increase from 2027 – the ORF currently receives 15.30 euros per month and household. Until then, the contribution amount is fixed.
The household tax replaced the GIS fee
As of January 1, 2024, the GIS compensation has been replaced by an ORF contribution in the form of a household tax. From then on, each household paid 15.30 euros per month to the ORF, excluding secondary homes and maintaining previous exemptions. This made it cheaper for most previous payers, but about 600,000 households had to pay for the first time.
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.
