To ensure fulfilment of its public service core mandate (§4 ORF Act), ORF has implemented a Quality Assurance System (§4a ORF Act). This system, with particular emphasis on the independence and personal responsibility of all programme-producing staff and the freedom of journalistic practice, defines specific criteria and procedures.
The Quality Assurance System comprises:
continuous evaluation of editorial content
independent expert opinions from external specialists
regular representative audience surveys
studies on programme structure and diversity
an internal reporting process on quality assurance measures taken
Its core principles are journalistic independence, diversity, relevance and objectivity. Findings from the Quality Assurance System feed into strategic decisions and contribute to both public and parliamentary oversight.
Decisions and Recommendations on the ORF Quality Assurance System (chronological)
September 11, 2025 - ORF Board of Trustees The Foundation Board has approved the appointment of Ingrid Deltenre as an expert for the quality assurance system 2025 to 2027 in accordance with § 4a para. 2 ORF-G by majority vote.
September 18, 2025 - ORF Audience Council
In its meeting on September 18, 2025, the ORF Audience Council recommended:
Recommendation for the Further Development of the Quality Assurance System
The topics of objectivity, balance, and diversity of opinion should be included in the representative overall survey. It should be professionally examined whether the methods and instruments used can be expanded to include AI-supported content analysis procedures. As part of the annual quality monitoring, concrete improvement measures based on the findings from the previous year should also be reported on, at least exemplarily.
Justification
Inclusion of the topics of objectivity, balance, and diversity of opinion in the representative overall survey: The ORF Audience Council has already established the methodological foundations in its annual studies of 2018 and 2019 to assess the public service core values of objectivity, balance, diversity of opinion, and topics from the audience's perspective. Corresponding questions should be included in the representative, annual overall survey of the ORF for the quality assurance system to place the further development of these important quality dimensions on an empirical basis.
Adjustments to instruments and methods: In light of the increased dissemination of AI solutions, it should be examined whether the method set of the quality assurance system can be expanded to include AI-supported content analysis procedures to make well-founded statements about product qualities (e.g., balance).
Reporting on improvement measures: Previous experiences have shown that findings from the quality assurance system have only been used sporadically to further develop ORF's services. The Audience Council recommends that in the annual quality monitoring of the quality assurance system, concrete improvement measures based on the findings from the previous year or years should be reported on, at least exemplarily. From the Audience Council's perspective, the goal should not only be to describe the qualities of ORF but also to make a transparent contribution to their further development.
15 September 2022 – ORF Board of Trustees The Board of Trustees at its plenary meeting on Thursday, September 15, 2022, decided, at the request of the General Directorate, to approve the [amended] quality assurance system [...] in accordance with § 21 para 1 item 6a ORF-G in the consolidated version: Quality assurance system from 09/15/2022.
25 June 2020 – ORF Board of Trustees The Board of Trustees unanimously decided to appoint Ingrid Deltenre, former Director General of the European Broadcasting Union, as an independent expert for the Quality Assurance System for the period 2020 to 2024, in accordance with §?4a (2) of the ORF Act.
10 September 2020 – ORF Audience Council The ORF Audience Council unanimously adopted this recommendation for the quality assurance system on September 10, 2020.
17 September 2020 – ORF Board of Trustees The Board of Trustees endorsed the Audience Council’s recommendation on the Quality Assurance System. The Director General was requested, in light of the discussion held, to develop proposals for the further development of the Quality Assurance System and to submit them to the Board of Trustees for decision. (Unanimously adopted.)
17 November 2016 – ORF Board of Trustees The Board of Trustees unanimously approved the extension of the appointment of Prof. Dr. h.c. Markus Schächter as an expert for the Quality Assurance System for the period 2017 to 2019, in accordance with §?4a (2) of the ORF Act.
11 November 2015 – ORF Audience Council Recommendation on the topic of diversity monitoring: "Diversity of topics is an important quality feature of public service broadcasting. In view of the establishment of a multimedia ORF newsroom, the Audience Council recommends the implementation of qualitative and quantitative content-analytical monitoring to ensure the diversity of topics in ORF’s offerings. The results should be presented once a year to the Quality Committee."
20 November 2014 – ORF Board of Trustees
The ORF Foundation Council decided in its plenary session on Thursday, November 20, 2014, to approve the [amended] quality assurance system […] in accordance with § 21 para 1 item 6a ORF-G in the consolidated version:
Quality assurance system from 11/20/2014
12 June 2013 – ORF Audience Council Recommendation: "The Audience Council recommends that, within the framework of ORF’s Quality Assurance System, management should conduct surveys to determine audience satisfaction with the fulfilment of programme mandates."
6 November 2013 – ORF Audience Council Recommendation: "The ORF Audience Council should be informed at least once a year by the Director General, in the Quality Committee of the Audience Council, about the specific quality assurance measures taken in the interest of the audience on the basis of the results of the previous year’s Quality Assurance System."
15 November 2012 – ORF Board of Trustees The Board of Trustees unanimously decided to appoint former ZDF Director General Markus Schächter as an independent expert to assess the overall performance of the Quality Assurance System for the period 2012 to 2016, in accordance with §?4a (2) of the ORF Act.
3 March 2011 – ORF Board of Trustees The Board of Trustees approved the extension of the appointment of Prof. Dr. Günter Struve as an expert for the Quality Assurance System for 2010 and the following year 2011, in accordance with §?4a (2) of the ORF Act.
10 May 2011 – ORF Audience Council The Audience Council took note of ORF’s Quality Assurance System in a positive manner. Resolution: "The ORF Audience Council calls on management to include, in the ORF representative survey conducted within the framework of the Quality Assurance System, questions to the audience regarding satisfaction with the objectivity of ORF reporting, considering programme categories, programme offerings and programme profiles. The results should be used, among other things, for the evaluation of quality profiles, particularly in the field of information programming."
12 May 2011 – ORF Board of Trustees The Board of Trustees approved the Quality Assurance System in accordance with §?21 (1) item?6a of the ORF Act.
Public Value Bericht 2024/25 (Online-Ausgabe; Print)
ORF-"Overall-Befragung" 2024
ORF-Publikumsratsstudie 2024
Die Programmstrukturanalyse finden Sie im Jahresbericht.
Public Value Jahresstudie 2024