ORF (broadcaster)
Österreichischer Rundfunk (lit.: 'Austrian Broadcasting'; ORF, German: [oːɛʁˈɛf] ⓘ) is an Austrian national public broadcaster. Funded from a combination of television licence fee revenue and limited on-air advertising, ORF is the dominant player in the Austrian broadcast media. Austria was the last country in continental Europe after Albania to allow nationwide private television broadcasting, although commercial TV channels from neighbouring Germany have been present in Austria on pay-TV and via terrestrial overspill since the 1980s.
Type
Austria; parts of Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland
ORF-Zentrum, Hugo-Portisch-Gasse 1, 1136 Wien, Vienna
Roland Weißmann (Director General)
1 August 1955
Ravag (Radio Verkehrs AG)
The former Ö2 has been replaced by nine regional channels (one for each Bundesland, or federal state):
All of these radio channels are broadcast terrestrially on FM and via the digital service of the SES Astra satellites at 19.2° east.
All of ORF's domestic radio channels are also streamed over the internet. An extra 24-hour all-news channel is available exclusively via internet: this is Ö1 Inforadio which relays all of Ö1's news content and fills the 'gaps', during which Ö1 is transmitting music and cultural programmes, with additional news broadcasts.
A version of Ö1 is broadcast internationally via short wave (and satellite in Europe) as Ö1 International. Its schedule includes a small number of programmes in English and Spanish.
An additional service, Radio 1476, formerly broadcast on medium wave each evening from 18.00 until just after midnight. Its schedule was a mixture of items from Ö1, programmes for linguistic and cultural minorities, folk music, and special productions.
The ORF television channels are broadcast terrestrially and via the SES Astra 1H satellite at 19.2° east. Via satellite ORF 1 and ORF2 are encrypted, allowing only Austrian residents who pay the Austrian television licence fee (GIS) to watch them. ORF2 Europe is unencrypted and receivable via satellite in Europe.
ORF is a supporter of the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) initiative that is promoting and establishing an open European standard for hybrid set-top boxes for the reception of broadcast TV and broadband multimedia applications with a single user interface. From 6 March 1995 ORF broadcasts 24 hours a day.
Major stars[edit]
Many of Austria's best known TV stars work for ORF. According to surveys the most prominent television presenter in the country is former alpine skier Armin Assinger who is the host of the Millionen-Show, Austria's version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. Mirjam Weichselbraun, a former MTV presenter is co-host of Dancing Stars, Austria's edition of Dancing With the Stars. The most popular comedy show on ORF is Wir sind Kaiser ('We Are Emperor') with comedian Robert Palfrader playing Emperor Robert Heinrich I, inviting celebrity guests to make fun of them. The best known news anchors are talk show host Ingrid Thurnher who was given seven Romy awards as most popular presenter; Armin Wolf who is best known for his hard-hitting interviews on the late evening news show ZiB 2; and Gabi Waldner, moderator of the weekly political magazine Report.