1924: Radio Communication Company Ltd. (RAVAG)

Austria’s first public broadcaster was the Radio Communication Company Ltd. (RAVAG). It was established in February 1924 after being awarded the task of “implementing broadcast and wireless telegraphy and telephone communication in Austria”. The driving force behind this was the Viennese lawyer Oskar Czeija (1887-1958), who also became RAVAG’s first general director. His goal was to found a broadcaster, which not only transmitted the news, but also provided cultural education and entertainment. The concept of a broadcasting monopoly stems from Czeija.

RAVAG commenced its broadcasting operation with Radio Wien from the attic of the former War Ministry building in the Stubenring on October 1, 1924. At the beginning, there were about 3.5 hours of transmission, mostly of music, entertainment and educational programmes. While at the beginning approx. 11,000 households in Vienna and its surroundings had a reception license, just a few months later, that number had already risen to around 100,000. In 1926, the studio and transmission facility were relocated to a former school in the 1st District in the Johannesgasse. In the authoritarian Ständestaat (corporate state, 1934-1938), Austrian radio was openly misused as a propaganda tool.

When the “Anschluss” (“Annexation”) took place in 1938, Oskar Czeija was immediately relieved of his function as general director at which point the Nazis took over control of the station. RAVAG was liquidated and the radio programme was from then on managed centrally from Berlin. At the end of April 1945, RAVAG resumed operation (Radio Wien) in the broadcasting centre in the Argentinierstrasse, located in the Soviet occupation zone. The influence of the Russian occupation force – the Allies had divided up the Austrian radio stations among themselves – was strong, and Radio Wien developed a reputation as a Soviet propaganda station. In 1953, the Allies eased up on radio control and in 1955, all radio stations were returned to the Austrian Republic. This resulted in the subsequent emergence of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (Österreichischer Rundfunk, ORF), which replaced RAVAG on December 11, 1957.