Clemens Pig elected new ORF Director-General – after nearly 15-hour marathon session

By morning it had already become clear that the schedule would not be met. Roughly ten hours after the start of the session, only six of the nine candidates had yet presented themselves to the Foundation Council. Pig's appearance and questioning alone lasted, according to conference sources, about two and a half hours instead of the planned 30 minutes. With other candidates as well, the schedule was significantly exceeded.

Course of an unprecedented session

In substance, Pig's appearance proceeded, in the assessment of observers, largely factually over long stretches. The verdict in the STANDARD conversation was mixed and was summarized as "good, but long." During the questioning, there was, among other things, a heated verbal exchange between FPÖ Foundation Council member Peter Westenthaler and Pig.

Westenthaler had criticized the personnel matter early on as "pre-cooked" ("ausgepackelt") and announced on election day itself that he would challenge it. He was not the only Foundation Council member to take issue with the manner of the proceedings. Again and again, discussions flared about the broadcaster's political independence, which were given fresh fuel by the course of the session.

The ÖVP had openly signaled that it could imagine Pig at the top of ORF. The SPÖ was also regarded before the vote as a supporter of the candidate. Pig himself rejected ties to parties in advance. In a STANDARD interview before the election, he stated: "Ich habe keine Zusage für die Funktion des ORF-Generals. Weder von der Kanzlerpartei, noch von anderen Regierungsparteien, noch von einer Oppositionspartei, auch nicht vom lieben Gott."

Background: Who is Clemens Pig?

Pig, born in Tyrol in 1974, studied political science in Innsbruck. Already during his studies, he co-founded the media monitoring company Mediawatch, which he sold to APA in 2001. In his mid-30s, he moved into the management of the news agency. In 2015 he became managing director of the APA Group; in 2016 he took over the chairmanship, which he held until his public application for the ORF post.

At the end of 2024, Pig had been confirmed for another five years as chairman of the APA management. At APA he was initially responsible for marketing and sales and later headed the subsidiary APA-DeFacto. For the ORF post, he has, according to his own statements, already definitively relinquished his APA function. In the industry medium Österreichs Journalist:in he was named "Media Manager of the Year" in 2018; in 2023 Tyrol chose him as "Tyrolean of the Year."

His programmatic concept for ORF carries the title "Ein ORF, dem Österreich vertraut. Vom Rundfunk zur Plattform der Gesellschaft" ("An ORF Austria trusts. From broadcaster to platform of society"). In it, he formulates the demand that the broadcaster must "mit seiner ganzen Kraft für Public Value, demokratische Orientierung, kulturelle und regionale Identität, digitale Innovation und journalistische Glaubwürdigkeit stehen. Er muss ein öffentliches Haus bleiben – unabhängig von Parteien, Interessen und einzelnen Milieus."

Programmatic vision and self-conception

The ORF is "politisch und gesellschaftlich besonders verletzlich" ("politically and socially particularly vulnerable"), Pig writes in his application concept. He sees the role of Director-General as far more than classic media-management tasks. In substance, he outlines a renewal of the house with the words: "Der ORF braucht keine Pose der Revolution, aber auch keine bloße Fortsetzung des Gewohnten … Er braucht Erneuerung mit Vertrauen und Vision – und eine Führung, die entscheidet, erklärt, zuhört und umsetzt."

In substance, Pig places at the center above all the handling of artificial intelligence and the loss of visibility of established media brands. "KI ist vor allem für die jüngere Zielgruppe zum Tagesbegleiter und Lebensberater geworden … Eigentlich sollten wir Medien das sein," he said in April to the daily KURIER. The visibility of media brands is disappearing "in der KI-Ära völlig" ("completely in the AI era").

AI, platforms and trust

"Die große Sorge ist, dass sich das Internet insgesamt zu einem KI-Internet umbaut, in dem jegliche Form von Pluralität verloren geht. Man bleibt immer im Ökosystem der KI," Pig warns. In his current book "Welt ohne Wahrheit" ("World Without Truth") he deals with a widespread European social media platform and the question of how trust in media can change under digital conditions. Both his diploma thesis and later dissertation also addressed the media positioning of top politicians as well as political communication in the digital transformation.

Pig described the ORF as the "Schweizermesser des österreichischen Medienstandortes" ("Swiss army knife of the Austrian media landscape") and called for an editorial self-conception "das nicht aus einem Milieu für ein Milieu sendet, sondern aus der demokratischen Mitte für das ganze Land arbeitet." The ÖVP and FPÖ had repeatedly accused ORF's information division of reflecting only one political milieu.

For the coming years, Pig announced his intention to focus on cooperation within the media industry, to strengthen editorial independence and quality, to listen more closely to the audience, and to maintain professional distance from all centers of power. Most recently, he had published two books on the digital transformation of the media world.

ORF as a media house

With its roughly 4,000 employees, ORF is Austria's largest media company. The importance of ORF in Austria is immense. The broadcaster operates several TV channels, twelve radio channels, and has an extensive online offering. Pig will take up his post in January 2027.

Personally, Pig is married and the father of three adult daughters. No party proximity is attributed to him. Observers assessed the election result as a confirmation of his concept.

Pig will take up his post in January 2027. This means that, after months of searching, ORF stands at a personnel new beginning—accompanied by an intense debate over political influence and the future direction of the house.

The handover of office is planned for January 2027. Until then, the discussions over how the election came about and ORF's future strategic line are likely to continue.