The Austrian media market is characterized by strong concentration tendencies, while also being heavily influenced by Germany. Control of the newspaper titles "Kronen Zeitung" and "Kurier" results in a dominant position, particularly in the print market, of the German Funke Media Group (formerly the WAZ Group). It is co-owner of Mediaprint, Austria's third-largest media group and the largest newspaper publisher. Austrian broadcasting, on the other hand, is clearly dominated by the public broadcaster ORF, which is the undisputed leader in the ranking of Austria's largest media groups by revenue. However, alongside this dominant position, ORF is also repeatedly criticized for what are perceived as excessive ties with the governing parties. With a market share of just under 31 percent, ORF's two main channels regularly achieve the highest ratings across all age groups, despite strong private competition.

While Austria remains a nation of newspaper readers, circulation has declined significantly over the past ten years – albeit less sharply than in many other European countries. This is despite the high status of journalism in the country. 6,500 journalists work in the country, around 2,500 of whom are members of journalists' associations. Even today, the tabloid "Kronen Zeitung" reaches more than 600,000 readers daily. In addition, there are high-reach quality newspapers such as the "Kleine Zeitung" and the "Kurier," as well as a flourishing market for free newspapers compared to Germany—especially considering the population size.

Forms of direct and indirect press support (through advertising government propaganda financed by taxpayers’ money) have been criticized for some time and create a problematic proximity between politicians and editorial offices (as in a Corruption scandal from 2011). The then Chancellor Werner Faymann, a friend of the Dichand family (Kronen Zeitung), was temporarily investigated in this context on charges of corruption, but no charges were brought.

As in other European countries, the online sector is Google and Facebook dominated. But ORF's online offerings are also among the most popular websites in the country. The online edition of "Der Standard" – the first Austrian daily newspaper to be available online – is now the most popular news portal in the country.

In May 2019, German media outlets (Süddeutsche Zeitung and Spiegel) triggered the so-called Ibiza affair through their reporting, triggering a major government crisis in Austria. The affair relates to a video published in 2019 showing then-Austrian Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache and then-FPÖ parliamentary group leader Johann Gudenus. The video was recorded by undercover investigators and shows Strache in conversation with a supposed Russian oligarch. In the video, Strache expresses his willingness to award government contracts in return for political support. The video led to a political earthquake in Austria. Strache resigned, and the coalition government between the ÖVP and FPÖ collapsed. The FPÖ lost almost 10 percent in the early parliamentary elections in September 2019, and the ÖVP entered into a government with the Greens.

Partly due to alleged false statements made in the investigative committee on the Ibiza affair, then-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP), who at the time enjoyed a high level of public respect, fell into disrepute in the media and was forced to resign from office in October 2021. As recently as May 2021, in an interview with journalist Armin Wolf on the ORF news program ZiB 2, he denied having lied to the Ibiza investigative committee. However, the ultimate trigger for his resignation was the allegations of breach of trust and bribery made against him, which led to searches of the Chancellery, the ÖVP headquarters in Vienna's Lichtenfelsgasse, and the Federal Ministry of Finance. One year later, in October 2022, it became known in the media that ÖBAG head Thomas Schmid had made serious allegations against Sebastian Kurz. During an interrogation at the Economic and Corruption Prosecutor's Office (WKStA), Schmid explained that Kurz had instructed him to implement the so-called "Beinschab-Österreich-Tool," which included manipulated polls financed by the Ministry of Finance.

General Information

Inhabitants: 8,978,929 (January 2022)
Households: 3.98 million (2021)     
Average household size: 2.2 people (2021)
Religions: Roman Catholic 73.6%; Protestant 4.7%; Muslim 4.2%
Big cities: Vienna (1.93 million), Linz (292,000), Graz (207,000)
Form of government: Parliamentary democratic republic
Head of State: Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen (independent, since 26 January 2017)
Head of the government: Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP, since December 6, 2021)
EU-member since: 1995
Unemployment rate: 5,5% (2022), 4,3% (2012)
State indebtedness: 70.4% of GDP (2021)
Budget balance relative to GDP: -5,9% (2021); -2,23% (2011); -1,33% (2012)
GDP purchasing power parity global: 0,37% (2021)
Advertisement costs total: 6.51 billion euros (2021); 3.84 billion euros (2011)
Television viewing time per inhabitant: 203 minutes per day (2021)
Newspaper readers daily: approximately 65% (2020)
Largest media and telecommunications companies (ranked by size): ORF, Red Bull Media House, Mediaprint, Styria Media Group AG, ProSiebenSat.1Plus4, Sky Austria, Media Group Austria, IP Austria, Moser Holding, Russmedia

Radio/new type of broadcasting device (basic fee):  6.31 euros – 7.91 euros/month (regional differences)
TV license fee: 22.45 euros – 28.65 euros/month

Changes from 2024: Starting in January 2024, the current fees will be replaced by a household fee of €15 per month. There will also be a state fee (between €0 and €6.20). The total average fee will therefore be €19.18.

Historical Foundations

The beginnings of the Austrian press landscape can be dated to the early 17th century. The first Austrian newspapers were printed sporadically as early as the end of the 15th century. However, around 1620, Viennese publishers began the regular weekly publication of so-called "ordinari newspapers," which primarily covered news from abroad. The most important publication of the heavily government-controlled Viennese press landscape until the 18th century was the state-affiliated "Wienerisches Diarium," later renamed the "Wiener Zeitung" and still existing today as one of the oldest newspapers in the world.

The newspaper landscape, already plagued by heavy censorship, suffered a further setback in the early 19th century when all non-governmental newspapers were banned or their continued operation was made impossible through disproportionate taxation. The repressive press policy of statesman Prince Metternich led to a de facto standstill in the newspaper landscape during the Vormärz period. However, the subsequent phases of relative liberalization, during the modernization and professionalization of the press (1848–1919) and during the "First Republic," which also saw the founding of the first broadcasting corporation and the ORF's predecessor, Radio-Verkehrs-AG (RAVAG), were short-lived.

As part of the "Anschluss" to Nazi Germany, the Austrian media sector was brought into complete conformity overnight on March 12, 1938. Communist and social democratic newspapers had already been banned by the corporate state in 1933, which facilitated the implementation of Gleichschaltung five years later. Nazi Party commissioners took over the management of all major publishing houses and dismissed all non-Aryan journalists; the German Reichspost was transferred to the RAVAG. On June 14, the so-called "Editors' Law" came into force, according to which all journalists had to be members of the Reich Association of the German Press to practice their profession. Through press instructions from the German News Bureau and centralized pseudo-press conferences, Austrian newspapers were controlled by the Nazis to prepare the population for pogroms and war. By 1945, numerous Jewish journalists had been murdered or left the country. Renowned book publishers such as EP Tal and Co, Saturn and Bermann-Fischer were Aryanized or liquidated.

Even in the immediate postwar period, the Austrian press was not entirely free. The establishment of new newspapers was subject to licenses from the Allied occupying powers. The first daily paper to receive such a license, alongside the "Österreichische Zeitung" (Austrian Newspaper), founded by the Red Army, was "Neues Österreich" (New Austria), published jointly by the ÖVP (Austrian People's Party), SPÖ (Social Democratic Party), and the Communists. However, journalistic divisions quickly emerged, and from 1948 onward, newspapers aligned with the SPÖ began to criticize the Austrian Communists and the Soviet occupying power. The Soviet occupying power, in turn, described the Social Democratic newspapers as instruments of US propaganda.

The public broadcaster, rebuilt after 1945 as the ORF, was perceived primarily as a politicized, SPÖ-aligned state broadcaster until the 1960s (and beyond). This went so far that in 1964, a referendum for the depoliticization of the ORF was launched, which attracted almost 20 percent of the electorate. Although the SPÖ reluctantly incorporated the public's concerns into its broadcasting legislation, and only in a watered-down form, the ORF's quasi-monopoly, which was closely aligned with the SPÖ, remained unchallenged until the 1980s (it was not until 1993 that the European Court of Human Rights retroactively declared the ORF's dominant position to be inconsistent with international human rights conventions).

Between 1945 and 1952, the number of newspapers (including the newly founded newspapers "Salzburger Nachrichten", "Tiroler Tageszeitung" and "Vorarlberger Nachrichten" supported by the American occupation) rose to 36 and the daily print circulation to 2.5 million. With the end of the occupation in 1955, the market consolidated and, after the end of Allied support, had to submit more strongly to the laws of the market economy: various regional party papers disappeared from the scene and were replaced by a more tabloid-oriented journalism culture, in which the "Kronen Zeitung", newly founded in 1959, became the most influential player. Revived by journalist Hans Dichand, the paper was able to increase its circulation tenfold between 1960 and 1980, from around 100,000 copies to one million copies sold daily. The success of the “Kronen Zeitung” and the “Kurier” spread from Vienna to the western part of the country in the 1970s and caused a massive decline in sales for regional titles that had been established for decades.

The 1980s marked a turning point for the Austrian media landscape, as German media conglomerates entered the market, particularly Bertelsmann, Axel Springer, and the WAZ Group. In 1988, the latter acquired a 50 percent stake in the Mediaprint Group, which publishes the "Neue Kronen Zeitung," the "Kurier," and numerous magazines (the remaining shares have since been owned by the Raiffeisen banking group and the Dichand family). German and foreign private broadcasters also competed with the ORF and flooded the TV and radio landscape.

In the 1990s, the first successful lawsuit against the then-existing ban on private television broadcasters was filed. However, even when the Federal Constitutional Court explicitly called on the governing parties, the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) and the People's Party of Austria (ÖVP), to create a dual media system, the major parties resisted. Private radio stations were not legally permitted to operate in Austria until 1995. The final hurdle to a dual TV market was only removed in 2001 with the Private Television Act; in 2003, ATV+, the first Austrian private broadcaster, went on air. This was due, among other things, to the so-called "black-blue media turnaround" that had occurred in 2000 during the coalition between the People's Party of Austria (ÖVP) and the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ). Previously, during the era of the Grand Coalition, the symbiotic relationship between the governing parties and the ORF (reporting uncritical of the government in exchange for a privileged special position for the broadcaster) was too strong to realize a liberalization of the broadcasting market. The comparatively smaller, but still dominant position in today's broadcasting landscape is also the result of decades of delaying tactics.

In the 2010s, Austrian media policy was shaped by advancing digitalization and the challenges posed by online platforms. There was a growing concentration of media companies, which led to concerns about media diversity. Increases and expansions of the broadcasting fee caused controversy, as not everyone in the population was in agreement with the financing of public broadcasting. There were also discussions about political influence on the media and the independence of public broadcasters. The broadcasting market became more diverse due to competition from private broadcasters and streaming services, while at the same time, questions about media ethics and transparency were raised.

The beginning of the 2020s was particularly marked by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Measures were taken to support the media sector, which was severely affected by the decline in advertising revenues and the digital transformation. There were increased efforts to combat fake news and disinformation, which influence public opinion and undermine media credibility. The regulation of online platforms and ensuring fair competition in the digital space are also part of the media discourse. Discussions about the independence of public broadcasters continue vigorously, particularly with regard to financing and the composition of supervisory bodies. A reform for 2024, which is intended to reduce broadcasting fees, has already been implemented. The current fees will be replaced by a household levy of €15 per month. There will also be a state levy (between €0 and €6.20). The average total levy will therefore be €19.18.

media companies and corporations

ORF
The most important player, alongside the "Kronen Zeitung," remains the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF). The corporation, which began broadcasting after the Second World War with a daily five-hour program, continues to hold its own against the now-grown private competition. After the broadcasting monopoly formally ended in 2001, the ORF was transformed from a corporation into a public-law foundation, which is now governed by bodies consisting of a Foundation Council, an Audience Council, and, at its top, a Director General. Unlike the councils of German public broadcasters, no persons holding political office are permitted to sit on the ORF's committees.

However, this does not change the fact that a close relationship continues to exist between the broadcaster and the political establishment. From 2007 to 2021, Alexander Wrabetz, a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ), served as Director General of the ORF. However, Wrabetz himself hampered his ambitious plan to push forward the "biggest programming reform in history" (which primarily consisted of adding more entertainment formats to the program in order to better compete with private broadcasters) through dubious and, according to critics, politicized personnel decisions. An attempt to push Niko Pelinka, the head of the SPÖ Friends' Circle, through the ORF Foundation Board in early 2012 as office head without a public announcement failed due to protests from ORF editors. Nobel Prize winner Elfriede Jellinek even used the Pelinka affair as an opportunity to proclaim the end of Austrian social democracy in her text "Little Niko." As recently as October 2013, ORF journalists themselves—represented by the Editorial Council—warned of a "relapse into an old proportional system." At the beginning of her term in office, there was a long-standing rumor that Kathrin Zechner, the television director in office since 2012, was facing replacement because she allegedly gave opposition parties too much speaking time, thus indirectly being held responsible for the loss of votes in the last election. However, she still holds this position today.

According to the ORF Act, the ORF has a tri-media mandate and is active in radio and television, as well as online. Its activities in the radio sector include the operation of three nationwide full-service stations (Österreich 1, Hitradio Ö3, and FM4) as well as nine regional radio stations from the individual federal states, which accounted for a market share of 72 percent in 2021. Radio AGORA, a specially produced full-service program in the Slovene language, has been broadcast for the Slovene ethnic group in Carinthia since 2004. Multilingualism is one of the most important features of public radio in Austria. Various so-called ethnic group editorial teams also broadcast programs in Croatian, Hungarian, and Czech, as well as a Roma magazine. With a total of 4.7 million daily listeners, ORF radio stations remain the clear market leader in Austria, despite private competition.

In terms of revenue, the public broadcaster ORF is also the undisputed number 1 in the country, with €1.052 billion in 2022. Red Bull Media House ranks far behind, with less than half of ORF's revenue, at €440 million. By comparison, the German public broadcaster will have over €10 billion in 2023, and the British BBC will have more than €6.2 billion (2022). France Télévisions, on the other hand, will have €2.8 billion and Italy's RAI €2.5 billion in total revenue (both in 2021).

Red Bull Media House

With the Red Bull Media House, Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz (1944-2022) steered the mega-corporation into new territory in 2007. The goal was to consolidate the media activities of Red Bull GmbH. In addition to its own television station, Servus TV, the media group also operates a highly popular YouTube channel, which is now the most-subscribed channel in Austria. The monthly magazine The Red Bulletin, published since November 2007, reports on the company's diverse sponsorship activities and is included in several Austrian and German daily newspapers. An English version of the magazine is distributed in British and Irish newspapers. Since November 2010, the same publisher has also published the magazine Servus in Stadt & Land, which has been Austria's best-selling monthly magazine since 2011 and has also had a Bavarian edition since March 2012.

The television station ServusTV, which was fully acquired by UNI PRO in April 2007, which still marketed it as Salzburg TV, was once Austria's first private TV station in 1995. Since June 2008, Red Bull Media House has operated the mobile television service Red Bull TV, which can be received via DVB-H. Since 2012, Red Bull has held a 50 percent stake in UBIMET, the operator of the Austrian Severe Weather Center. The weather data is used in the Red Bull Group's media. The mobile provider Red Bull Mobil, which is part of Red Bull Media House GmbH, is a tenant of the A1 Telekom Austria mobile network. In April 2013, Red Bull acquired the Salzburg-based Ecowin publishing house. In 2016, a global partnership between Red Bull and the camera manufacturer GoPro was announced, which includes content production, distribution, and cross-promotion of the products. Red Bull received a share of GoPro, and GoPro became the exclusive partner for point-of-view shot cameras for all Red Bull media productions and events. The GoPro and Red Bull media channels, including the GoPro Channel, Red Bull TV, Red Bull.com, and the company's own media service platform, Red Bull Content Pool, will be used cross-media.

In October 2016, it was announced that Red Bull Media House would discontinue Seitenblicke magazine. The print product was published for the last time on December 7, 2016. In February 2017, Red Bull Media House was reorganized into two major units. Gerrit Meier has since headed the Red Bull Media Network division, including Red Bull TV, Red Bull Films, RedBull.com, and Red Bull Music Publishing. Dietmar Otti heads Publishing, TV, and Media Operations. The management of Red Bull Media House has since consisted of Gerrit Meier, Christopher Reindl, Dietmar Otti, and—until his death in 2022—Dietrich Mateschitz.

With total revenue of €440 million in 2022, Red Bull Media House is now Austria's second-largest media group. However, the company has achieved significantly higher revenues in the past. For example, revenue in 2016 was still €541 million. One reason for the decline is the increasing importance of online media, which is posing challenges to linear television and print media.

Mediaprint
The newspaper and magazine publisher Mediaprint can certainly be considered the most influential media group in Austria after ORF. Although Red Bull Media House still ranks ahead of Mediaprint in terms of revenue, Mediaprint's strength lies primarily in the contributions of its parent company, Red Bull. Mediaprint was founded in 1988, when Hans Dichard, the long-time publisher of the "Kronen Zeitung," together with the German WAZ Group, acquired five percent and 45 percent, respectively, of the paper from former co-publisher Kurt Falk. When the WAZ Group also acquired a 49.5 percent stake in the Kurier Group a short time later (the Raiffeisen Group has since held the remaining shares), Mediaprint was founded as a subsidiary and link between the "Kurier" and "Kronen Zeitung." Its board includes representatives from WAZ (now Funke Media Group), the Dichard dynasty, the Raiffeisen Group, Kurier, and Kronenzeitung. Through a 30 percent stake in the magazine publishing group News, Mediaprint was able to further expand its importance within the so-called Mediamil complex. Critics consequently attested to Mediaprint's highly problematic market power of approximately 60 percent in the print market. Austrian antitrust authorities, however, estimated its influence at just under 30 percent (2014). According to Media Analysis, the "Kronen Zeitung" and the "Kurier" alone accounted for over 35 percent of the market share in the print sector in 2017. Even though the circulation of the "Kronen Zeitung" in particular has declined significantly since then, this position has not changed due to the general decline in circulation in the print market and the increasing relevance of online media – a field in which Mediaprint also operates.

In addition to the "Kronen Zeitung" and the "Kurier," the Mediaprint empire includes three other print newspapers, numerous online portals, a private radio station, and two TV stations. However, in recent times, the conglomerate has had to contend with declining revenues. Revenue fell significantly in the 2010s. Before the change of ownership within the WAZ Group and the renaming to Funke Media Group There was also repeated speculation about the company's withdrawal from the Mediaprint Group. After the takeover of various newspaper titles from Axel Springer However, it seems unlikely that Funke will withdraw from the Austrian newspaper market any time soon. In 2022, Mediaprint generated revenue of 400.7 million euros.

Styria Media Group AG
Measured by revenue, the Styria Media Group is Austria's fourth-largest media group. Total revenue in 2022 was €293 million. Originating from the Catholic Press Association, founded in 1869, Styria Media is now an internationally operating holding company with a focus on Styria and Carinthia, as well as the Eastern European market.

In Austria, Styria publishes, among others, the quality newspapers "Die Presse" and "Kleine Zeitung" and cooperates with Moser Holding in the free newspaper sector (see below). Also in its portfolio are three radio stations (Antenne Kärnten, Antenne Steiermark and Schlagerradio Flamingo), four book publishers and, since 2012, various online media outlets (including lebexund.jetzt, meinbezirk.at, willhaben.at) as part of Styria Digital Holding. The share of the digital division in the company's total revenue has increased many times over the years. In the newspaper editorial departments, however, there have been mergers and cost-cutting measures: from 2014, journalists from "Die Presse" were also required to write for "Wirtschaftsblatt", which was feared to lead to a loss of quality. In 2016, "Wirtschaftsblatt" was finally discontinued due to its declining relevance in the newspaper market.

Styria is also active in Italy, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia. In the latter, Styria is active through its control of the daily newspapers "Vecerni List", "Poslovni dnevnik" and "24 sata" as well as the search portal http://www.njuskalo.hr even market leader. In Italy, the company holds a majority stake in the weekly newspaper “Il Friuli” from the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region; in Slovenia, Styria acquired a stake in the “Zurnal” group (including the free daily newspaper “Zurnal24”, news platform http://www.zurnal24.si) and the major daily newspaper Dnevnik.

ProSiebenSat.1PULS4

The media company ProSiebenSat.1PULS4 is the Austrian branch of the German umbrella organization ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE. Through ProSiebenSat.1PULS4, the German group operates various television stations in Austria, including PULS 4, ATV, ATV2, and PULS 24. Sat.1 Österreich, a counterpart to the German channel, is also distributed. PULS 4 is a popular private broadcaster in Austria, offering a wide range of entertainment and information programs, including shows, series, films, news, and sports broadcasts. The group's TV offerings are also marketed via the online portal prosiebensat1puls4.com. Also part of the company was ZAPPN, Austria's largest streaming platform, which will now be integrated into the Joyn streaming platform, which already belongs to ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE.

With both its Austrian channels and their German counterparts, ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE has established itself firmly in the Austrian television market, although it doesn't even come close to matching the reach of the public broadcaster ORF. Total revenue of €175 million makes ProSiebenSat.1PULS4 the fifth-largest media group in Austria.

Fig. I: The ten largest media groups in Austria in 2022 (by annual revenue in million euros)

Source: diemedien.at

Fig. II: Weekly print circulation of the largest Austrian daily newspapers in 2013 and 2022

Source: Statista Research Department 2023

Fig. III: Market shares of the largest television stations in Austria in 2022 in the total audience (12 years and older)

Source: Statista Research Department 2023

Regulations

In 2001, the regulatory body, the Austrian Communications Authority (KommAustria), was established on the basis of a law of the same name. The authority assumes legal oversight of Austrian broadcasting and the private media sector, awards press subsidies, and manages frequencies. Similar to the German three-step test, KommAustria has also implemented a system that assesses ORF's offerings in terms of quality and mandate. Specifically, this means that ORF is obligated to submit all concepts for new programs and projects to KommAustria and to ensure transparency by publishing them online. KommAustria's office is the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (Rundfunk- und Telekomregulierungs-GmbH).

The greatest challenge for Austrian media policy remains the concentration of the media sector, which began at least in the 1970s. The main tool for ensuring journalistic diversity is direct press funding, which was further intensified in 2004 and 2010. One result of these efforts is certainly that the approximately ten newspaper titles with still high reach have remained relatively stable. On the other hand, the market-dominating position of the "Kronen Zeitung" could not be reduced, and there is no interest among the political class or the public to change this. The license-funded ORF – similar to the ARD in Germany – is seen by Austrian publishers as the greatest obstacle to the development of a flourishing, diversified press landscape. Furthermore, there has been an intensified discussion in recent years about the independence of public broadcasters in Austria. In the radio sector, the Non-Commercial Broadcasting Fund, established in 2009, is intended to support freely funded radio stations. However, the Association of Free Radios has regularly criticized in the past that 0.3 percent of the revenue from the ORF's Fee Info Service (approximately three million euros) is not enough for this purpose.

Overall, the Austrian media sector is probably already too consolidated to be able to effectively intervene in the market using the amended press subsidy system. Promotional activities in the areas of distribution, which enable nationwide early delivery even for smaller newspapers, as well as financial support for individual innovative publication models, are fundamentally helpful and necessary – especially for publications that continue to operate independently, such as "Der Standard." However, publications that have long since become part of financially powerful corporations or holding companies also benefit from press subsidies. Here, press subsidies lead to nothing more than cost reductions and improved corporate balance sheets. A suggestion repeatedly put forward in the debate is therefore to no longer distribute press subsidies according to the scattergun approach, but to link them to specific criteria such as journalistic quality.

Sources/Literature

• diemedien.at
• Hummel, Roman/ Kassel, Susanne: Structural data analysis of the development of Austrian journalism (1946-2008). In The Austrian Media Landscape in Transition. Vienna: Publishers of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, 219-239.
• media-analyse.at
• mediaprint.at
• mediaresearch.orf.at
• oeak.at
• ots.at
• Stark, Brigitte/Magin, Melanie (eds.) 2009: Introduction. In The Austrian media landscape in transition. Vienna: Publishers of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, 7-17.
• statista.com (Television market shares)
• statista.com (weekly circulation of daily newspapers)
• Steinmaurer, Thomas 2012: Media and media policy in Austria – an overview. In Information on Political Education Vol. 35, Innsbruck-Vienna-Bolzano: Forum Political Education.