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Thomas Brezina: End of an era in ORF children's television!
At the end of 2025, ORF will end its collaboration with Thomas Brezina and his production company Tower10 KidsTV due to budgetary realignments in children's programming.
Thomas Brezina: End of an era in ORF children's television!
In mid-September 2025 it will now be official: ORF and Thomas Brezina will end their years-long collaboration. The popular Viennese children's book author and show producer, known for hits such as “Tom Turbo” and “Forscherexpress”, will be leaving ORF's children's program line with his production company Tower10 KidsTV at the end of the year. The exact end of this cooperation is unclear, but it is clear that Brezina's content will continue to be available for the ORF's children's program until the end of the year, while no new projects are planned for the period after that. How meinkreis.at reports, the decision is seen as difficult because Brezina's formats have shaped children's television in Austria for decades.
Brezina's company history is remarkable: Since 1995, Tower10 KidsTV has produced countless series, including classics such as “Great Animals”, “ABC Bear” and “Hello Okidoki”. Since then, over 1.6 million minutes of programming have been collected, which reveals a lot about Brezina's influence on several generations of children. For example, “Tom Turbo” has been running on ORF since September 1993 and has been appreciated and loved by children and families for years.
Content and budget realignment
What is behind the decision to end this long-standing cooperation? The ORF speaks of a “content and budget realignment” in the children’s program. ORF General Director Roland Weißmann thanked Brezina for the collaboration in a statement and acknowledged Brezina's influence and his company's commitment. The realignment is intended to help bring a breath of fresh air into the program, which is loud 5min.at was a necessary but difficult decision.
But Thomas Brezina takes this farewell in a sporty manner. He already has new projects planned and is convinced that he will continue to create exciting content for children, young people and adults. It remains to be seen what formats will come our way, but Brezina is optimistic that his creativity will also resonate with future generations. “I would like to thank the ORF for their years of cooperation,” said Brezina, while at the same time he could not hide his joy about the development of formats for young viewers.
What remains?
Despite the end of the collaboration, a large part of Brezina's legacy will live on at ORF. Programs that have already been produced remain in the station's archive and can continue to be broadcast. Formats like “Hello Okidoki” or “Knall ingenious” will continue to bring joy to younger viewers in the future. Over the years, Brezina helped to strongly shape the programming of the ORF children's channel “ORF Kids”. The ORF's decision could therefore leave a big gap, as well the press notes.
The chapter between Thomas Brezina and the ORF may be coming to an end, but the stories he told will continue to live on in the hearts and minds of many children. It remains to be seen what new adventures Brezina will present to us in the future!