Austria

[AT] Decisions of the ORF Foundation Board

IRIS 2004-7:1/7

Peter Strothmann

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

At its plenary meeting on 17 June 2004, the Stiftungsrat (Foundation Board) of the public service broadcaster Österreichische Rundfunk (ORF) took some important decisions.

In a majority decision, the Stiftungsrat approved the creation of Österreichische Rundfunksender GmbH. Through this new company, ORF hopes to divide up its broadcasting network, separating its broadcasting infrastructure activities from those linked to content provision.

The Board also approved the annual TV broadcasting plan for 2005. This continues on from the 2004 broadcasting plan, fixing TV programme quotas for minority languages. According to para. 5 of the ORF-Gesetz (ORF Act), ORF must, as part of its radio and television programmes as well as its Internet and teletext services, provide material aimed at each of the six ethnic minorities which have a so-called minority advisory council. Under para. 1 of the Government Decree on minority advisory councils, such bodies should exist for the Burgenland-Croatian, Slovakian, Slovenian, Czech, Hungarian and Roma minorities.