KommAustria

The Austrian Communications Authority, also known as KommAustria, is the regulatory authority for the Austrian broadcasting industry. Since early April 2004, the authority has been headed by Michael Ogris. In all of its activities, KommAustria is provided with operational support by RTR's Broadcasting Division.

Since its establishment under the KommAustria Act in 2001, KommAustria has been responsible for issuing licenses to private television and radio stations, managing broadcasting frequencies, handling the legal supervision of private broadcasters, as well as preparing and launching digital broadcasting in Austria.

Since January 2004, KommAustria has been in charge of administering the Austrian federal government's press and journalism subsidies. In August 2004, KommAustria also assumed responsibility for monitoring ORF's and the private broadcasters' compliance with Austrian advertising regulations. Finally, KommAustria was designated as the supervisory authority for collecting societies in July 2006.