Österreichische Mediathek

What Österreichische Mediathek does

Österreichische Mediathek is Austria's central archive for audio and video recordings documenting cultural and contemporary history, operating as a non-profit department of the government-owned Technisches Museum Wien. Founded in 1999 as the Österreichische Phonothek and renamed in 2024 under the unified brand Technisches Museum Wien mit Österreichischer Mediathek, the institution preserves more than 2 million recordings spanning shellac records through to modern digital video, with 140,000 items available for online streaming and 650,000 catalog records in total. Its holdings include exclusive partnerships with Austria's leading cultural institutions — Wiener Symphoniker, Burgtheater, Salzburger Festspiele, Vereinigte Bühnen Wien, and Volkstheater — plus unique oral history collections such as Sammlung MenschenLeben and the 800+ film ÖWF scientific film collection inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of Austria register.

The institution's core product portfolio consists of the Digitale Sammlung streaming portal, the searchable Katalog, 36 themed Onlineausstellungen, the geographic Audiovisueller Atlas, the Archivist's Choice curated series, the Resonanzraum podcast, and curated educational materials under 'Für den Unterricht.' Underlying technology includes digitization workflows for analog formats (shellac, magnetic tape, 16mm film), lossless FFV1 archival encoding, and long-term digital preservation infrastructure. The business model is primarily state-funded, with free streaming access for private individuals globally, fee-based archival copy services for private and research use, professional digitization services for external clients, and free metadata distribution via Europeana and Kulturpool. Customers include academic researchers and historians, schools and educational institutions, and the general public, served through the website, a physical reading room in Vienna, podcast channels, social media, and recurring public events such as Archivfrühstück and Lunch Lectures.

Name

Österreichische Mediathek

Legal name

Technisches Museum Wien mit Österreichischer Mediathek

Website

https://mediathek.at

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Österreichische Mediathek is Austria's central audio-visual cultural heritage archive, preserving over 2 million recordings and streaming 140,000+ items free to researchers, educators, and the public as a department of the Technisches Museum Wien.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Audio-Visual Cultural Heritage Archive

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (519210), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (519)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPAHAGAF

Cloud Media Archive & Cold Storage Services

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Media Technology & Services (Post-Production, VFX, Animation, Streaming Infrastructure)/Media Asset Management & Archiving (MAM/DAM, Preservation)

SECONDARYMPABADAL

Public Media Archives, Libraries & Content Preservation

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Broadcasting (TV & Radio)/Public/Nonprofit Broadcasting (PBS/NPR-style)

SECONDARYMPAHAGAH

Ingest, Indexing & Proxy/Mezzanine Generation

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Media Technology & Services (Post-Production, VFX, Animation, Streaming Infrastructure)/Media Asset Management & Archiving (MAM/DAM, Preservation)

SECONDARYMPAHAGAI

Archive Restoration & Digitization (Film/Video/Audio Scanning, Remastering)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Media Technology & Services (Post-Production, VFX, Animation, Streaming Infrastructure)/Media Asset Management & Archiving (MAM/DAM, Preservation)

SECONDARYMPAHAGAL

Rights, Access Control & Clearance for Archives (Permissions, Audit, Policy)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Media Technology & Services (Post-Production, VFX, Animation, Streaming Infrastructure)/Media Asset Management & Archiving (MAM/DAM, Preservation)

Keywords

• Audio-visual archive
• Cultural heritage preservation
• Digital media collection
• Audiovisual digitization
• Historical media research

Headquarters

HQ city

Vienna

HQ country

Austria

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Free Streaming Access: All media files are permanently accessible via streaming for private, individual listening or viewing at no cost. The institution is funded through public government support as part of the Technisches Museum Wien.
2. Archival Copy Services: Fee-based copying services for archival recordings for private use and scientific research purposes. Technical copying costs apply. Requires manual processing and may take up to two working days.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Österreichische Mediathek is Austria's national archive for audio and video recordings documenting cultural and contemporary history, preserving over two million recordings from shellac records to modern digital files. It operates a free online streaming platform with more than 140,000 searchable media items, 36 curated online exhibitions, and a comprehensive catalog of 650,000 records, alongside professional digitization and long-term archiving services for external collections.

Product overview

The Österreichische Mediathek operates as Austria's national archive for audio and video recordings documenting cultural and contemporary history. The organization preserves over two million recordings spanning from shellac records to video files. The core product portfolio consists of the Digitale Sammlung (Digital Collection) providing streaming access to 140,000+ online media items, the comprehensive Katalog (Catalog) with 650,000 searchable records, and 36 Onlineausstellungen (Online Exhibitions) covering historical topics. Supporting offerings include the Audiovisueller Atlas for geographic exploration of recordings, Archivist's Choice staff-curated highlights, the Resonanzraum Podcast, and educational materials under 'Für den Unterricht.' Services encompass professional Digitierung (digitization) and Langzeitarchivierung (long-term archiving) for external collections. Research initiatives include the Sammlung MenschenLeben oral history project and participation in European digitization programs like Europeana Sounds.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Digitale Sammlung (Digital Collection)

Quantifiable outcome

• 4000+ shellac record sides digitized and made available online through recent digitization project
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Wiener SymphonikercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollection partnership where historic concert recordings of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra (1952-1955) are digitized and preserved by the Mediathek. The partnership saved recordings from deletion.
• BurgtheatercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollection partnership for preserving theatrical recordings and performances from the Burgtheater, one of Vienna's most prestigious theaters.
• Salzburger FestspielecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollection partnership for Salzburg Festival audio-visual materials, preserving Austria's premier music and drama festival.
• Vereinigte Bühnen WiencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollection partnership for Vienna's united stages theatrical productions.
• VolkstheatercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollection partnership for Vienna Volkstheater theatrical recordings.
• Technisches Museum WienflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent institution. The Österreichische Mediathek is a department of the Technisches Museum Wien, Austria's national museum of technology and industrial heritage.
• Österreichisches Bundesinstitut für den Wissenschaftlichen Film (ÖWF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWhen ÖWF dissolved in 1997, its archive of over 800 scientific films was transferred to the Mediathek. The collection covers biology, ethnology, and technical sciences.
• WienbibliothekminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLoan partnership for USIS (United States Information Service) audio collection. Wienbibliothek lends recordings for archiving by the Mediathek.
• EuropeanaminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEuropean cultural heritage platform where Mediathek metadata is made available for wider European access.
• Roma ServiceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for time witness interviews with Roma and Sinti survivors of Nazi persecution. The Mediathek preserves and provides online access to these oral history recordings.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Phonogrammarchiv (Austrian Academy of Sciences): Austria's oldest audio archive, also focused on preserving Austrian sound heritage including ethnographic recordings. Most direct domestic peer by mission and geography.
• Cinémathèque française: French film and audiovisual heritage institution with similar archive-and-public-access mission, museum affiliation, and curatorial exhibition programming.
• Schallarchiv der Wienbibliothek: Vienna city library's sound collection with overlapping Austrian audio heritage scope; has even formally loaned the USIS collection to the Mediathek for archiving — operational and geographic peer.
• Schweizerisches Bundesarchiv / Phonotek (Schweizerische Nationalphonothek): Swiss national sound archive with near-identical mission of preserving national audio heritage, public access, and digitization of endangered carriers — closest linguistic and governance peer.

Broad incumbents

• National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA): Australian audiovisual archive with government mandate to preserve and provide public access to film, sound, and broadcast heritage — analogous in mandate, funding structure, and curatorial scope.
• BFI National Archive: UK national film and television archive with a public-mandate preservation role, free public access elements, and large-scale digitization programs — comparable operational model.
• British Library Sound Archive: UK national sound archive with millions of audio recordings; shares the public-mandate, government-funded audio-preservation model and digitization-to-public-access mission.
• Internet Archive: Large-scale digital library and audiovisual preservation nonprofit; competes for the same researcher and general-public attention for free access to historical audio/video content.
• Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum (DFF): German national film archive with comparable film preservation mandate and public funding model; much larger scope but overlaps on scientific-film and cultural preservation activities.

Others

• Europeana: European cultural-heritage aggregation platform where Mediathek metadata is already syndicated; serves as both a distribution partner and a competing discovery layer for the same researcher audience.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubetechnischesmuseum.at/umweltzeichen
• Xx.com/oemediathek

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Österreichische Mediathek