The elephant round of the leading candidates will be held on June 5 on ORF and May 9 on Puls24.
Five weeks before the European Parliament elections on June 9, the leading candidates have had no shortage of opportunities to pitch themselves to voters on television and radio. Candidates have been rotating in the “ORF Press Hour” format since mid-April, and the “Guest in the Journal” interview series began last week. ORF and private television will have more debate rounds and fights towards the election date.
From May 21, a total of ten TV clashes between leading domestic candidates will begin on ORF III. A round of European Front Candidates (May 23) is scheduled on this channel. The two parties (KPÖ and DNA), which will go to the polls on June 9 but are currently unrepresented in parliament, will not take part in the conflict.
Anyone interested can watch the first “elephant round” on private television this year: together with “Krone.tv”, Puls24 invites the four candidates to the studio on May 9, one month before the election date. The second elephant tour will be conducted by Corinna Milborn on June 2nd, the first by Kundula Geisinger and Rainer Novak. On June 5th, ORF Brussels correspondent Raffaella Scheideriter and Tobias Botzelsberger invite the four leading candidates and the first candidates to the elephant round in Kuniglberg. Starting May 6, politicians will appear on ORF’s “ZIB 2” in personal interviews. “ZiB” is planning a series of interviews with top candidates of the European Parliament committees from May 6. Bulls24 will also show the clash between the primary candidates and the female candidate on May 14 organized by the Israeli Community (IKG) and the monothematic two-way duels on May 27.
Candidates currently answer questions from two journalists each Sunday during “press time”. Lena Schilling (Greens), Helmut Brandstätter (NEOS) and Harald Vilimsky (FPÖ) have already had their turn, Andreas Schieder (SPÖ) on Sunday and Reinhold Lopatka (ÖVP) next week. Schilling and Brandstätter have already appeared in the Ö1 series “Im Journal”, the candidates of the three parties, who will compete for seats one through three, will arrive in May.
The ORF formats “Report”, “Guten Morgen Österreich”, “Weltjournal” and “Zur Sache” will also be dedicated to the EU elections. In “Focus Europe” Andreas Mayer-Bohusch will tackle the “biggest European topics” every Wednesday from May 8. There is also a discussion about the “Ö3” – not the main candidates, but young politicians speaking in ten special programs about questions that are particularly important to young people.
ORF tries to reach voters through non-linear channels. The podcast “The Professor and the Wolf” with Armin Wolf and Peter Filzmaier is dedicated to the EU elections from 15 May, “Citizens’ questions – EU and us” Hans Burger and former EU Commissioner Franz Fischler talk about how politics is made. in Brussels. Journalist Verena Sophie Meyer travels around Europe under the name “@EuroSophie” and reports on it on the ZiB TikTok channel.
Election Day starts at 6 am on Pulse24 with “Cafe Pulse Special” and ends late into the night. In addition to predictions, Puls24 formats “Hotly Contested” and “Wildly Controversial” will be on display. Corinna Milbourne will report from the European Union Council among others. On Public Broadcasting, Tobias Botzelsberger and Susanne Högerl guide you through Election Day.
