Aigelsreiter previously worked as ORF radio editor-in-chief. After the departure of ORF-TV-News editor-in-chief Matthias Schrom last year, two of the three editor-in-chief positions in the multimedia ORF newsroom have to be filled. Schrom, who was doomed by chats with ex-FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache, will in future lead the “Smart Producing” project together with Stefan Kollinger, as was announced by broadcast on Tuesday. He evaluates modern, cost-reducing production methods for existing and future multimedia program initiatives.
Ex-ORF-Lower Austria regional director Robert Ziegler also gets a new position in the public service media tanker. The man confronted with serious allegations of influencing the ÖVP from his time as editor-in-chief is moving to the “Facility Management and Corporate Social Responsibility” department, where he is to implement the further expansion of accessibility and inclusion in the ORF.
The new sports director Aigelsreiter was born on April 16, 1964 in Lilienfeld in Lower Austria and has been with ORF since 1989. There he began his career as a reporter and editor in the state studio of Lower Austria. In the mid-1990s he switched to “Welcome Austria” as a television reporter and in 1997 came to the radio domestic policy department. In 2002 he was promoted to head of the domestic policy department of the “Information” radio department. In 2011 he was responsible for the radio journals as Ö1 info chief before being appointed radio editor-in-chief at ORF in 2012. Aigelsreiter’s appointment at the time was also considered a bourgeois personnel request for the re-election of ex-ORF general director Alexander Wrabetz. As head of sport, the 58-year-old is tasked with setting up a main multimedia department (television, radio, online).
For the ORF, sports broadcasts are traditionally a source of ratings, with viewership also exceeding the million mark. However, the sports rights market is hotly contested and expensive. Most recently, the ORF has repeatedly entered into cooperation with the private broadcaster ServusTV – for example for Formula 1 or the World Cup.
With Aigelsreiter’s appointment, two of the three editor-in-chief posts in the multimedia ORF newsroom are now to be filled. Because following Schrom stumbled across chats with Strache last year and announced his resignation, Eva Karabeg took over the management on an interim basis. A permanent replacement is still pending. In response to the chat affair surrounding Schrom, the ORF editors called for the three editor-in-chief posts to be re-advertised in the multimedia newsroom. ORF boss Roland Weißmann has given the order to develop structural proposals for cooperation in the newsroom. Only when a new, ideal structure has been established will management positions be advertised, said Weißmann at the beginning of February.
On Tuesday, the ORF also communicated with Eva Maria Hoppe-Kaiser, a new department head for magazines in the religion and ethics department. The 55-year-old takes over this function from Norbert Steidl, who retired. The show “Thema” also gets a new boss in Markus Stachl. He has been Deputy since 2018. Program manager of the ORF 2 magazine. The 56-year-old succeeds Andrea Puschl-Schliefnig, who is retiring.
