AUSTRIA 9 TV is on air: At 12:12 p.m. on December 12, 2007, Hubert Burda and Helmut Markwort gave the final go-ahead for Austria’s new TV station, in which Hubert Burda Media holds a 51 percent interest. The appropriate licensing authority KommAustria has given the station permission “to broadcast a TV program” for an initial period of ten years.

Right from the start, AUSTRIA 9 TV will be available to two million Austrian households as well as via different UPC cable networks, including all 500,000 UPC-connected households in Vienna.

The managing partner of AUSTRIA 9 TV, Conrad Heberling, is pleased about the great conditions: "There is frenetic activity to get our program to most households as soon as possible. We expect to reach approximately 70 percent coverage or 2.5 of the 3.4 million Austrian TV households within the next few weeks."

A first for Austria is Austria 9 TV’s vertical program structure, facilitating viewers’ selection of favorite programs. Each night of the week has a different motto, with the station broadcasting several episodes of the same TV series back-to-back. Monday is Superman day with "Lois & Clark", Tuesday the day of "The Octopus", and Wednesday is reserved for "JAG". On Sundays, the station airs Austrian movie classics and TV highlights such as “The Thorn Birds” and “Shogun” starring Richard Chamberlain.