ORF: 28 hours of repetitions - where is the diversity?

ORF: 28 hours of repetitions - where is the diversity?

On July 23, 2025, the public service broadcasting of Austria (ORF) will make headlines, since today both ORF 1 and ORF 2 radiate a total of 28 hours of repetitions. This corresponds to almost 60 % of the total broadcast time that day. Affected programs include known formats such as "Kochroulette", "Experience Austria" and "Universe - Tanganjika Lake", all of which have already been broadcast in previous years.

In a time when the market shares of the ORF decrease continuously, the question of the efficiency and necessity of public financing is becoming increasingly urgent. According to exxpress.at, the ORF is expected to receive around 800 million euros in public funds for 2025. This includes compulsory contributions from the viewers who amount to up to 710 million euros, regardless of the number of spectators or the quality of the program.

market analysis and program structure

The number of spectators and market shares of the ORF programs show that the range among the spectators from the age of 12 is subjected to constant analysis. [der.orf.at] (https://der.orf.at/Medienforschung/fernsehen/marktan parts/index.html) reports that the ORF station group was 34.2 % in 2024. ORF 1 reached 10.1 % and ORF 2 20.9 %.

A look at the use shows that the Austrians spend more than a third of their TV time with ORF programs. In the core program zone from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., the market share even rose to 39.9 %. Despite this range, the strongest competitor of ORF Servus TV with a market share of 5.3 %is followed by transmitters such as ZDF and RTL.

subsidization and program design

Subsidy of the ORF is justified by the goal of offering a diverse and balanced program. However, critical voices complain that the majority of the current content contains repetitions and archive integrations. The smaller transmitters of the ORF, such as ORF III and ORF Sport+, are also heavily dependent on archive material.

The program for today also included some content from 2013 and a crime thriller from 2007. A so-called "ORF premiere" by "Dr. Nice-Alte Wounds" (2023) was also broadcast, followed by further repetitions.

financing models in European comparison

the ORF is not only criticized, because while financing is carried out by compulsory contributions and public funds in Austria, other European countries have different models. According to parlament.gv.at, a fee model is used in Germany, which is paid by any regular household. In Denmark, on the other hand, the fee model has already been replaced by an income -dependent tax after the budget was reduced by 20 %. Similar discussions take place in Italy and Switzerland, whereby each nation is looking for its own way to secure the function of public service broadcasting.

The current situation of the ORF fundamentally raises the question of how public service broadcasting should be structured and financed in the future-a discussion that is important not only in Austria, but also in the entire European area.