2023-04-28 03:24:09
The ORF legislative amendment was sent for review by the government on Thursday. Comments can be submitted until May 25th. The draft law shows that the ORF will be compensated by the federal government for a loss of the previous right to input tax deduction worth millions under certain conditions. In addition, cooperation with private individuals is to be strengthened, for example by providing a program catalogue.
Media Minister Susanne Raab (ÖVP) and Green Party leader Sigrid Maurer presented the key points of the planned ORF digital amendment at a press conference on Wednesday. In the future, ORF will be allowed to produce both online-only and online-first, and there will be 70 percent moving images and 30 percent text on orf.at in the future, with the number of text contributions per week being limited to 350. Depending on the content, the current seven-day limit for accessing TVthek will be extended to a longer period.
It has been known for some time that the current device-linked GIS fee will be converted into an ORF contribution in the form of a household fee. In future, EUR 15.30 per month will be due per household, with the previous fee exemptions remaining in effect, secondary residences excluded and a staggering of the ORF contribution for companies coming into force.
With the switch from the program fee levied by the GIS fee to the new ORF fee, the ORF no longer has the right to deduct input tax. According to an impact assessment of the draft law, the ORF will lose between 70 and 90 million euros in the following years. This sum is to be “neutralized” by the federal government through a time-limited annual “compensation” to the ORF. In return, the ORF should take cost-cutting measures, for example in the area of personnel and material costs. In addition, the ORF will receive 10 million euros in compensation payments annually until 2026 for the continued existence of the Radio Symphony Orchestra (RSO) and ORF Sport +. The prerequisite for compensation is, for example, that more popular sport can be seen in the main program.
The ORF receives these compensations in addition to 710 million euros from the ORF contribution. The sum is calculated from the average net costs of the public service contract from 2024 (approx. EUR 683 million) to 2026 (approx. EUR 743 million). If the income from the ORF contribution exceeds the net costs of the public service mandate, the funds should continue to be allocated to a dedication reserve and, in a further step, to a blocked account. If the net costs rise, the ORF can fall back on them. An increase in the ORF contribution is listed as a “last option”. If this is nevertheless necessary, the ORF Director General can still submit an application to the Board of Trustees. This will then be checked by the authority KommAustria.
With the switch from the GIS fee linked to TV and radio to the ORF fee in the form of a household fee, around 525,000 more private households will be subject to the fee. A total of 4.1 million households would have to pay the contribution. However, the exemption rate is around eight percent, which means that around 3.7 million households are ultimately obliged to pay contributions.
In addition, according to expert estimates, around 238,000 companies are liable to pay contributions, of which around 100,000 will only be obliged to pay after switching to the household fee. How much a company has to pay to the ORF depends on the sum of the wages paid. According to the draft, one ORF contribution is to be paid up to EUR 1.6 million, two ORF contributions up to EUR 3 million, etc. One-person companies are excluded.
So far, the GIS Fees Info Service Gmbh collected the GIS fee. It is renamed to ORF-Beitrags-Service GmbH. Anyone who is liable to pay contributions will in future be recorded using data from the central register of residents. For companies, the municipal tax is used to determine the obligation to pay.
The draft law also states that the ORF should strengthen cooperation with private companies. It is envisaged that the public service media company will put together a selection of 500 minutes per year of self-produced programs that were first broadcast more than seven years ago. Private broadcasters can select programs from this list for a fee and broadcast them in their own linear programme. Excerpts of current ORF programs may also be used by private individuals. In turn, the ORF can – if desired – make content from private market participants available on its online platform for a fee.
ORF’s online offer must not be an offer that “is comparable to the online offer of daily or weekly newspapers or monthly magazines”. On orf.at, audiovisual posts are to make up 70 percent and text posts 30 percent in the future, with texts on accessibility not being included in the maximum number of 350 text posts per week. Accompanying text for audiovisual contributions must have a maximum of 300 characters.
The amendment enables the ORF to provide content online-first. However, cultural, informational (excluding news programmes), entertainment and sporting content may be put online no earlier than 24 hours before broadcast in the linear programme. In the case of series, a maximum of two episodes in advance is allowed. Up to 80 programs per week are permitted in the area of content that the ORF may only produce online in the future (online-only).
In addition to a partial breakdown of salaries by name, a planned transparency report will also list the reach of programs and online offers as well as the costs of all in-house and commissioned productions. The report must be made available to the public.
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