The ORF Board of Trustees is now complete with 35 members following the appointment of Franz Medwenitsch by the Austrian Federal Government. Medwenitsch replaces Gregor Schütze, while the Audience Council appointed John Evers to succeed Siegfried Meryn.
The leadership changes follow the resignation of Schütze and Meryn, the latter of whom stepped down after a legal threat from trustee Peter Westenthaler. Medwenitsch emphasized that board members must uphold the same duty of care as corporate supervisors.
While a new ORF law aims to create a smaller supervisory board, these reforms are not expected until 2028. Both Medwenitsch and Schütze have advocated for a significant reduction in the board's size to modernize the broadcaster's governance structure.