New Controversy

A luxury problem! These are the ORF’s highest-paid employees

Best of Friends: Suspended Director General Roland Weißmann and Head of Security Pius Strobl, who will be a luxury pensioner starting in 2027.(Bild: Karl Schöndorfer)

This list comes at an inopportune time in the Intrigantenstadel: Around 83,000 households are footing the bill for the highest salaries through their ORF license fees.

A pay paradise for public broadcasters! The never-ending political controversy surrounding top salaries at ORF is getting new fuel with the brand-new transparency report. Amid one of the biggest crises—complete with a mudslinging battle—surrounding the resignation of Director General Roland Weißmann due to allegations of sexual harassment, the list of gross annual salaries (+) starting at 170,000 euros (2025, including bonuses) for the public broadcaster certainly comes at the worst possible time...

Ingrid Thurner is now at the helm of the Küniglberg “intrigue den” at least until the end of the year. She now has to clean house properly.(Bild: Mario Urbantschitsch)

The total has dropped slightly from 73 people last year to just over 60 names. But we’re still talking about more than 15 million euros! With an annual ORF license fee of 183.60 euros, nearly 83,000 households are funding the high-salary executives at Küniglberg, at the subsidiaries, and in the regional studios.

Best of friends: Suspended Director General Roland Weißmann and Head of Security Pius Strobl, who will be a luxury pensioner starting in 2027.(Bild: Karl Schöndorfer)

The City of Salzburg is essentially paying only for top earners
Put another way: Since an average Austrian household consists of more than two people, that’s at least the population of the City of Salzburg!

The “Krone” knows the winners, the losers—and the big names missing from the list. The new number one ahead of Weißmann is Pius Strobl, the organization’s security officer and head of charity (apparently also for himself). As is well known, the manager shares the same lawyer as the key witness in the ORF scandal. The soon-to-be 70-year-old is also fighting for his luxury pension of over 2.4 million euros. Until then, his job is sweetened with a monthly salary of around 33,000 euros—nine times the average Austrian salary! The new ORF chief, Ingrid Thurnher, doesn’t even make the top 5 with her income as radio director (exactly 270,270 euros).

Which regional bigwigs are leading the pack in pay
The previous frontrunner in the salary report, Ö3 morning show host Robert Kratky, stepped down due to the onset of burnout. The departure of sports director Hannes Aigelsreiter in January was not so voluntary. Unlike Kratky, he moved up to third place on the earnings list for the last time, with a gross annual salary of just under 340,000 euros. The regional top earner remains ORF Salzburg Director Waltraud Langer, who receives 18,500 euros gross per month. Behind her is the head of the Styrian regional studio; Vienna brings up the rear.

"Dancing Star" Still Has the Highest Side Income
In addition to top salaries, side gigs are also a frequent topic of conversation. Despite stricter (advertising) rules, “Dancing Stars” and Opera Ball host Andreas Knoll remains in first place. Close behind is “ZiB 2” star host Armin Wolf, who appears as an author and political commentator alongside Peter Filzmaier.

By the way, this year the top earners will have to settle for a zero wage increase...