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Lukas Klingan, Content Developer U30 ORF Player #2 What is the starting position?
First of all: Yes, ORF still reaches its young target groups excellently via television and radio. We also reach young people via ORF.at, Facebook and Instagram, primarily with information, but sports and entertainment are also often used very well - especially in comparison with competitors. Nevertheless, ORF has to move now. We have to go where the young target groups spend a large part of their time. Due to the new technologies, videos are becoming more important every year. At the same time, the intersection of ORF content with the needs of the young online-only target groups is becoming less and less. There is too little engagement with youth culture in the moving image sector. The artist Capital Bra polarises strongly in the young age groups; on YouTube, his 42 videos have been clicked more than 700 million times in the last two years. Sneakers have become an investment in recent years, and young people regularly camp out in front of sneaker stores for so-called sneaker drops. Gaming and the consumption of gaming streams have become an integral part of young people's everyday media lives; only eight percent of 12-19 year-olds do not play digital games, almost 70 percent gamble daily, and young girls in particular are catching up strongly. Hiphop, sneakers, video games are only three elements that have had a lasting impact on youth culture for many years. None of these topics has been adequately represented in the moving image sector in recent years. There is simply a lack of offerings here. However, the absence of offerings is not the primary problem. Even if we were to regularly show appropriate content in our linear broadcasting areas, we would only reach the desired target group to a limited extent. Because a target group that primarily moves online expects primarily online content. Each platform corresponds to its own logic, comparable to human language.
In France, no one wants to understand you with English, and linear content only works to a limited extent on online platforms. Small difference: In France, you at least get a stubborn shake of the head; on social media, you don't even make it if you don't speak the right language. Currently, we speak the right language only occasionally - and we try to do so too rarely. Currently, we mostly showcase our linear content - good for the brand, in the best case it might even help the linear production. So there is a lack of presence and distribution possibilities. And in addition, there is a lack of interaction possibilities. Interactions are a central element of online offerings: Every posting, every video is only worth as much as the degree of interaction. Without interaction, there is no presence, no relevance. The perspective: we have to move. Taking place where they are. With the content they are looking for. In the form that the recorded platform specifies. For this, we need the understanding described. But this can only be developed if we seek more honest exchange on the one hand and create the necessary culture on the other.

For this, we need more young employees, but also more cooperation and alliances with young content creators. All this pays into the understanding that is needed to actually reach young people. With the new ORF Player offers, the company is reacting to the changed usage behaviour: We will be adequately represented on those devices that are preferred by the audience. For this, we need new on-demand offers and a contemporary user experience that is on a par with the major platforms.

We need to create our own offers for online channels; this need for action goes far beyond presenting classic television on as many devices as possible. For the audience, ORF Player means better on-demand availability of our traditionally produced content in the first step and additional online-appropriate offers in the second step. For the young audience, ORF Player means fresh content that is broadcast on the platforms on which they primarily spend time, socialise and consume. In addition, new touchpoints have to be activated in order to better reach certain target groups.

The focus here is on the sinus groups, which we now rarely reach with our linear offerings. In addition to distribution, the content itself must also change and meet the demands of its target groups more precisely. Even if they compete on the streaming market with commercially oriented competitors, they must live up to the public service claim and provide a clearly recognisable benefit for the audience and society. For the company, the ORF Player means the beginning of a comprehensive structural and cultural change. The Player project is being developed across all areas, and a permeability in structure and organisation is necessary for this. A permeability that must be lived not only across internal departmental boundaries, but also with external partners in the online sector.