Advertising Expenditures of the Government at Their Lowest in Ten Years

The federal government significantly reduced its advertising expenditures in the first half of 2025. 3.2 million euros were allocated to media, which is 83 percent less than in the first half of 2024 (18.7 million euros), as shown by the media transparency data from KommAustria published on Wednesday. Overall, the reportable advertising expenditures of the public sector decreased from 196.5 million to 176.7 million euros. Some international digital giants, however, slightly increased their advertising revenues.

Most Advertising Money for the Ministry of Defense

The advertising expenditures of the federal government have not been this low in a decade as they were in the past half-year. Even under the expert government of Brigitte Bierlein, more than twice as much money, around 6.8 million euros, was spent on advertisements in the second half of 2019. The most investment in the first half of 2025 was made by the ÖVP-led Ministry of Defense with around 1.5 million euros. This was followed by the Ministry of Education under the NEOS (approx. 394,000 euros), the Ministry of Agriculture under the ÖVP (approx. 303,200 euros), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the NEOS (approx. 273,500 euros), and the ÖVP-led Ministry of the Interior (approx. 262,600 euros). The decline is partly due to the fact that the current federal government was only sworn in at the beginning of March. In the first half of 2024, the turquoise-green government was still in charge. Additionally, the current ÖVP-SPÖ-NEOS coalition announced in the government program that they intend to save on advertisement placements and reduce information budgets by ten percent.

Styria Reduces Expenditure on Advertisements

The city of Vienna continued to advertise vigorously. It invested around 11.1 million euros in advertising. The state of Upper Austria (approx. 3.1 million euros) and the state of Lower Austria (approx. 1.3 million euros) also remained stable. The state of Styria, under the new FPÖ-led government, spent significantly less: the volume of advertisements decreased from approx. 1.1 million euros to approx. 268,000 euros. Several millions were spent by the Chamber of Commerce (approx. 7 million euros), Linz AG (approx. 6.2 million euros), Wien Energie (approx. 4.8 million euros), and the ORF (approx. 3.5 million euros) on advertising bookings.

Meta and TikTok with More Advertising Revenue

The ORF is at the top of the advertising recipients with approximately 10.7 million euros, but lost about 3.3 million euros in revenue compared to the first half of 2024. Google (including YouTube) also recorded a decrease, but this was minor at around 274,000 euros. The platform giant generated a total of around 7.6 million euros in advertising revenue from public entities. Meta (Facebook, Instagram) reached approximately 6.7 million euros, increasing by around 157,000 euros compared to the previous year. TikTok also slightly increased against the trend to approximately 771,000 euros. In total, various international platforms bring in significantly over 16 million euros in advertising revenue, which flowed to them from the federal government, states, chambers, or (partially) state-owned companies.

The Tabloids Also Have to Save

Traditionally strong, but significantly slowed down, advertising was done in the tabloid sector. The "Krone" (publishing and multimedia) reached approximately 6.3 million euros, losing about one million compared to the same period. "Heute," in the form of the AHVV publishing house and other associated companies, also recorded a decrease of around 770,000 euros, resulting in approximately 3.7 million euros in revenue. The Österreich media group recorded revenues of approximately 3.4 million euros (-943,000 euros).

A major advertising recipient was the Gewista advertising company, which specializes in outdoor advertising. It took in around 8.8 million euros, increasing by almost 900,000 euros. In contrast, the Regionalmedien Austria (RMA) faced significant losses. With titles like "Mein Bezirk," it reached a total of around 4.6 million euros (-1.2 million euros).

Massive Declines at Numerous Media Houses

There were also significant declines at the "Kurier" (approximately 3 million euros, minus 946,000 euros), the "Standard" (approximately 2.9 million euros, minus 1.2 million euros), and the "Kleine Zeitung" (approximately 2.5 million euros, minus 960,000 euros). The ProSiebenSat.1Puls4 group, with channels like ATV and Puls 4, even saw a halving of advertising revenue from public funds (approximately 2 million euros, minus 2.1 million euros). The Wimmer media house (including "OÖ Nachrichten," "Tips") got off relatively lightly with a decline of around 110,000 euros on revenues of approximately 3.4 million euros. The Moser Holding (including "Tiroler Tageszeitung"), which reached approximately 2.7 million euros, also saw a comparatively minor decline (around 200,000 euros).

(APA/Red)

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