Designated ORF chief backs regional coverage and media cooperation

Designated ORF Director-General Clemens Pig has highlighted the importance of regional coverage and called for greater cooperation among Austrian media companies, ORF reported after his visit to the broadcaster’s Upper Austria regional studio in Linz on Wednesday.

Pig will take over leadership of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation on January 1, 2027. He said regional identity and trust would be central to the ORF’s future.

The ORF accompanied people “throughout their lives” and provided a “resonance space” in which society could find itself, Pig said. He described the regional studios as crucial to this role, saying they created programming that helped shape local identity and was important both for the ORF and its audience.

In a digital media environment with numerous platforms and services, trust would become increasingly important, Pig said. The regional studios were “very close to the audience”, while regional and Austrian programming distinguished the ORF from international platforms such as Netflix, Spotify and Amazon.

Despite digitalisation and artificial intelligence, people’s desire for personal interaction, a sense of home and a direct connection to their surroundings was growing, Pig said. “That is why regionality will become more important in a Europe of regions.”

Pig also identified attracting younger audiences as a key task. The ORF would need a stronger presence on the platforms used by younger people, as well as content reflecting their lives and immediate surroundings. Young people were “very interested in what is happening in the regions”, he said, calling for “cooler programming” and new online and social media offerings.

He also argued that the ORF needed a clearer profile so people would understand “why they should choose ORF” in a world of numerous digital brands.

Pig said Austrian media companies should cooperate more closely. International platform corporations, rather than regional competitors, were the main competition for Austrian media, he said. They took a large share of advertising revenue, making it harder to finance traditional media. Cooperation would therefore be his “major credo”, and the ORF would become more open to joint projects with other media organisations.

Pig also defended the ORF household levy. He said the ORF belonged to everyone and that it needed to explain more clearly why people paid the monthly charge. In his view, the levy was the only way to ensure that the ORF remained as politically independent as possible and that regional culture, amateur sports and clubs continued to receive a public platform on the broadcaster.

Funding the ORF directly from the state budget would increase the risk of political influence and restrict its programming, Pig said.