18 - What is public about Ö3?

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Michael Pauser, head of Ö3, gives an answer:

My personal answer: "Everything".

Ö3 plays an important and incomparable role in Austria. Not only because Ö3 reaches more than half of the Austrian population every week. Ö3 is simply not just a radio station, it is a voice that guides us through the day, informs, motivates, inspires and also connects us. It is also a place for encounters, exchanges, discussions, getting to know each other and listening - and no longer just on the radio, but increasingly also in the new media and at events in the real world.

Ö3 is the country's livestream - 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Listening to Ö3 means reliable orientation throughout the day and year, a good and varied overall package of music, information, entertainment and service. Every day, Ö3 promises to be a good, entertaining, interesting and reliable companion for everyone throughout the day and thus throughout everyday life.

In the past year, Ö3 has lived up to its responsibility as the only 24-hour radio newsroom and in this role has provided balanced coverage of important global and local events - from dramatic exceptional events such as the Gaza war to the state elections and the daily challenges facing the population such as inflation, education and security. Credibility and reliability are the top priorities at Ö3, principles of inestimable value. Not because it is the duty of public service broadcasting, but out of conviction. With correspondents directly from the crisis areas, with reporters in the federal states and with experts in the studios (since the move to the ORF media campus, it is now even easier for colleagues from the specialist departments to go on air live on Ö3), Ö3 brings the whole country and the world to all listeners at home, makes complex topics tangible, classifies them and thus promotes a deeper understanding. Information on Ö3 is more than news; it is a bridge to the topics that move us, it is reliability that provides security and it sets the pace for the day.

Ö3 also sends out a strong signal that our future lies in the hands of the younger generation. With initiatives such as the annual Ö3 youth study, the station gives the younger generations a strong voice and provides insights into their hopes, concerns and demands. The Ö3 community "Frag das ganze Land" is a forum in which people's own opinions are put to the test and sometimes shaken and reconsidered in the light of new perspectives. In the fourth quarter, "Frag das ganze Land - der Ö3-Nighttalk" added four additional discussion hours to the program every week and in 2024 we will be holding live discussions at schools and at festivals in the summer. This commitment shows how dedicated Ö3 is to promoting an understanding and inclusive Austria and how important discussion, listening and opinions are seen as both valid and questionable.

Music is at the heart of Ö3, and the station is passionate about giving Austrian musicians a stage and celebrating our own rich musical landscape. Every Ö3 studio session, every Treffpunkt guest list, every Ö3 concert performance, every song played is a tribute to the power of music that moves us and connects us all.

The Ö3 Podcast Award and the Ö3 Podcast Festival are just two examples of how the station shapes and promotes Austria's creative landscape. And by honoring the silent heroes in traffic with the Ö3 Traffic Award, Ö3 shows that each and every one of us can make a difference and even save lives. The Ö3 traffic service is a guarantee for reliable, immediate information that makes Austria's roads and thus individual mobility safer. In cooperation with ASFINAG and the police, it can also actively influence traffic management to prevent traffic jams from occurring in the first place.

Ö3's sports reporting allows us to share in the highs and lows, the triumphs and defeats of our athletes, bringing us together in moments of exceptional best performances and national pride. The personal access to the sports stars makes them tangible and tangible. This is the kind of sense of community that makes Ö3 so special. In addition, as a moving, unifying and constructive force in and for the whole of Austria, Ö3 can build "lighthouses" with special initiatives and projects that make visible where society as a whole needs to find a viable answer to problems, necessities and challenges.

Campaigns such as the "Ö3 Christmas Miracle", for example, show how deep the sense of togetherness goes. This week before Christmas is a time of generosity and charity that brings out the best in all of us and when the whole country comes together and stands together. With initiatives such as the "Ö3-Wundertüte", the "Team Österreich Tafel" and the newly created "Mental Health Festival", Ö3 takes on the challenges of our time and turns them into opportunities for growth, support and solidarity. Above all, the combination of event, trimedial implementation and long-term multimedia presence at the "Mental Health Festival" has made the broad impact of this campaign possible.

Ö3 is not a public service station because of its corporate form or financing, Ö3 is not a public service station because of its program mandate. Ö3 is public service by conviction. Hitradio Ö3 is more than just a station - it is a faithful companion through life in Austria that inspires, motivates and reminds us that we are stronger together. We want to use the resources available to us to the best of our knowledge and belief to make our daily contribution to a unifying, inclusive society and reach as many people as possible.

With its comprehensive everyday support and basic provision of information, service, culture, emotion and entertainment, Ö3 is a striking example of the public service mandate and also impressively underpins the ORF's public service mission - especially because Ö3 reaches people who are otherwise no longer easily accessible to the ORF. We will continue to work on this mission with all our strength and motivation in the coming years with constant further development and new impulses in the interests of our audience. So to return to the question posed at the beginning: Ö3 is public service, through and through and in the best sense for everyone!

"Ö3 Frühstück bei mir" and the "Ö1 Journale" have been among the most popular podcasts in the country for years. New podcasts such as the MF4 podcast "Der Professor und der Wolf", "Kratky sucht das Glück..." and "Wilma. The inexplicable powers of a maid" were able to attract a large audience straight away.

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