• According to a report by ‘Der Standard’, ORF III aired documentaries commissioned by ÖBB and the Chamber of Commerce without disclosing the funding.
  • ORF III paid only 1,500 euros in license fees for the documentary ‘100 Years of ÖBB’, while ÖBB covered 50,000 euros in production costs.
  • The documentary series ‘Made in Austria: Grenzenlos erfolgreich’ was also funded by the Chamber of Commerce and is available on its YouTube channel.
  • ORF co-financed the documentary ‘Ganz Wien – 40 Jahre Donauinselfest’ with 60,000 euros without editorial control; the majority of costs were paid by the SPÖ-affiliated club Pro Event.
  • For the documentary ‘Erwin Pröll von A-Z’, ORF paid only one-third of the costs, while the production company sold DVD licensing rights directly to the Lower Austrian Farmers’ Union, a sub-organization of the ÖVP.
  • ORF implemented reforms after a compliance investigation, but ‘Standard’ and ‘Dunkelkammer’ revealed continued questionable practices, including ordering three episodes from production company big5comm.

Sources & Links