“Funishing women”: ATV checks for criticism “Love Business”

The trigger was criticized at the weekend. After “Falter” editor-in-chief Florian Klenk had known his resentment about the “women-looking garbage” and the “trivialization of rape culture, exploitation and women’s trade”, media minister Andreas Babler (SPÖ) and the women’s chairman of the SPÖ, ÖVP, NEOS and GREEN also critically commented.

Quoten hit in criticism

“The business with love” is not a new ATV format. The show has been making good odds for many years. In the previous year, an episode with around 172,000 spectators was one of the most viewed programs by the private broadcaster. This year the format went into its 11th season. Several men travel to Kazakhstan and Thailand, where they look for their “dream women”. It can be seen, for example, how an obviously heavily drunk woman from Thailand is carried away by a man over his shoulder after he previously told his sexual behavior and made it clear how important it was that a woman wanted sex constantly.

“Sexist, racist and contemptuous for women”

After Klenk had expressed sharp criticism of the show, the women’s chairman of the SPÖ, ÖVP, Neos and Greens also reported in a joint broadcast on the show, which they described as “sexist, racist and contemptuously”. “Women are treated like goods, violence, attacks, humiliations and ownership claims are normalized,” said Eva-Maria Holzleitner (SPÖ), Juliane Bogner-Strauß (ÖVP), Henrike Brandstötter (Neos) and Meri Disoski (Greens). Media Minister Babler stated on social media that open views of sexual exploitation of women “have no search for anything on TV or somewhere in our society”. The Vice Chancellor announced that he would approach ATV’s management and address the content of the program.

Controversial episode offline, test follows

ATV Lehne “Sexist and racist content as well as violence and misogyny strictly abandoned,” the broadcaster reacted to criticism. “Since quality control failed in the relevant episode, appropriate measures were taken immediately and the result, as well as all clips from it, were taken offline,” it said. Now a “further quality control” should take place – also with a view to the other, not yet broadcast consequences of the season. If necessary, they should be revised before broadcast, it said. That is why “the business with love” will pause on Wednesday (March 26).

When asked to what extent episode 5 stands out and whether the entire program was being covered, ATV stated on the APA request: “The said episode 5 is different in that it is unfortunately insufficiently reflected in the narrative method from our point of view.”

Antiheroes as heroes

Last year, Thomas Gruber, CEO of ProSiebenSat.1Puls4, explained to the sender’s sometimes shallow reality TV formats: “We make anti-hero and underdogs about the heroes of our formats.” Of course, a certain limit should not be exceeded, it was a balancing act, he said. But: “We have found a very viable path in recent years. You have to see the formats with a certain wink.”