ORF general in a talk

Weißmann: “This is unfair and inappropriate”

The topic of the Song Contest has been on the mind of ORF Director General Roland Weißmann for weeks. But this is not the only debate that public broadcasting has triggered at the moment.(Bild: APA/MAX SLOVENCIK)

The Director General of ORF, Roland Weißmann, on his austerity measures, the program highlights for 2026, the reduction in staff of prominent faces, the associated accusation of age discrimination and the Causa prima - the Song Contest and a possible boycott of Israel. 

"Krone": Mr. CEO, the new management will be elected in just over a year's time. Do you fancy a second term in office?
Roland Weißmann: We have our hands full with the current challenges, and I still really enjoy working with my team. There is still almost a year to go before I decide whether to extend my term.

The budget levy will remain frozen for the next few years. How is the ORF actually doing financially and how much still needs to be saved?
Yes, this is a major challenge for us. Everything is becoming more expensive - including for ORF - but revenues remain frozen and advertising revenues are under severe pressure or declining, which is affecting the entire industry. We have to close this gap year after year, and now the small contribution reform, which reduces the burden on companies, will add another ten million euros per year in savings. Nevertheless, our finances are stable and our efforts are successful. We will close this year with a balanced result and are planning to do the same in 2026 despite the unforeseeable "big chunk" of the ESC. My aim is for people to notice as little as possible about the program.

Verena Scheitz, Birgit Fenderl, Claudia Reiterer, Robert Kratky, Christa Kummer, Thomas Brezina - the departure of big names continues. Were the stars too expensive and isn't broadcasting losing a piece of history in the process?
Despite all the appreciation for the colleagues who have left us, I think this portrayal is inappropriate and grossly unfair to the many other ORF audience favorites who are an anchor point for millions of people in Austria every day. And also to all the young people we give the chance to become stars. Yes, we've had a certain number of celebrity departures, but that's a coincidence - and really only due to the employees' personal willingness to change.

What is important to me and is often misrepresented: All departures were amicable, transparent and in mutual appreciation. I personally find it a shame and unnecessary that some have subsequently changed their perception and do not always present their ORF farewell in a factual manner, but this can perhaps be explained by the sentimentality of the farewell. All of the people you mentioned have made great contributions to ORF and were and will rightly remain audience favorites in very different segments. As I see it, the pain of parting always allows conclusions to be drawn about our attractiveness as an employer. This appreciation on the part of ORF and the audience certainly made it difficult to say goodbye. Personally, however, I am very upset when we are suddenly and retrospectively accused of discrimination by the media. I strongly reject that. What are the many women 50+ who continue to do their great work at ORF supposed to think? In information, there are more women 50+ on screen than men; in total, we have more than 50 women over 50 on air. Like our employees in other age segments, they all do outstanding work. An "ORF for everyone" also has stars for everyone - in all age groups.

And how will we build up new stars in the future? After all, there is a broad multimedia field in this respect today.
We are constantly building up new personalities in TV and radio - and sometimes we also get great young people from the competition, like Alexandra Wachter for "ZiB" a few years ago or now Anna Kratki for the ö3 "Wecker".

There are also accusations of age discrimination, especially among women. What do you say to that?
Quite simply, there is no such thing. The promotion of equality between men and women is a central corporate goal of ORF and is ensured by many initiatives and measures, because ORF, due to its public service orientation and its positioning in the media world, also has a special role model effect in socio-politically important areas such as equality between women and men. ORF is also one of the most scrutinized companies in Austria in this respect. There are some sensitivities, but that is also okay, at least as much for men as for women. The company and I personally do not communicate and discuss details of the termination of employment relationships publicly, which makes it somewhat difficult to conduct such debates objectively. In any case, the individual examples cited in the media reports are completely unfounded as examples of alleged unequal treatment.

Next year will see the Winter Olympics and - hopefully with Austria for the first time in 28 years - the Football World Cup. Will you be entering into more partnerships in the sports sector, for example with ServusTV?
Our partnerships in the sports sector are going very well and, to be honest, there is no alternative because one person in Austria alone cannot finance this. I hope that we will continue to be able to enter into such cooperations in Austria and that the major sporting events will not disappear behind the paywall for the audience.

What other program highlights can viewers look forward to in 2026?
In addition to the ESC and the sports events already mentioned, there will be many other highlights in 2026. "Kommissar Rex" will be back, as will "Aktenzeichen XY" as a Eurovision program. We are also celebrating 70 years of "ZiB". We are also combining natural history with guessing fun with "Universum - Die Show". Summer once again belongs to the cultural events between Lake Neusiedl and Lake Constance. ORF ON offers the best Austrian series and films as streams and ORF KIDS is launching new formats for young audiences in 2026. And we are expanding our social media offering for young people.

Conversely, where will we have to cut back on programming?
For example, we are postponing the "Große Chance der Blasmusik" event planned for this autumn and a major show event planned for next year due to the Song Contest. And we are turning over every penny in production and tweaking many small screws so that we can maintain our diverse, high-quality program portfolio.

The Song Contest has long since become a political issue. And not just since the winner JJ (pictured with Culture Minister Andreas Babler, Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker and Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger) made a pro-Palestine statement.(Bild: AFP/JOE KLAMAR)

What do you think of the idea raised by Foundation Board member Schütze of having just one "ZiB 1" presenter as a cost-cutting measure? 
The suggestion is not new and we will consider it after discussing it in the Board of Trustees.

Your motto for the ESC in the Wiener Stadthalle is "spectacular, but economical". But now more and more countries and TV stations such as the BBC are openly threatening to boycott the event if Israel takes part. What is your position on the EBU's decision to let its members vote on Israel's participation and would the ESC in Vienna go ahead without Israel?
I have been arguing this for months in the EBU and I recently made the same point to the EBU Supervisory Board: ORF is unequivocally in favor of the participation of the Israeli public broadcaster KAN in the Song Contest. I am campaigning for this and will continue to do so, especially in view of Austria's history. However, the decision lies with the EBU, where all members are now called upon to vote by secret ballot.

You can see the results of the big krone.at poll on the subject here:

Keyword "savings": Where else do you want to cut costs in the future in order to ultimately reach the "planned target" budget? And which potential cost-cutting measure do you oppose and advocate?
ORF has to save 320 million euros by 2026, with a further three-digit million euro sum to be added by 2029. This naturally presents us with major challenges. Drawing up the savings program is a very complex undertaking, so I don't want to pick out any individual measures here. In principle, however, no area of ORF is exempt from the considerations. But we will certainly not cut back on the quality of our programs, as the many program highlights in the coming year alone show.

ORF has to save 320 million euros by 2026, with a further three-digit million euro sum to be added by 2029. This naturally presents us with major challenges.

Roland Weißmann über Sparziele des ORF

You are a marathon runner, what stage are you currently at with ORF on your general/master plan?
(laughs) Nice try to come back to the first question - I'll let you know in good time whether these five years will have been a half marathon or a marathon.