How to Watch LT1 outside Austria: VPN Guide 2026
Linz cable channel TV3 was rebranded in 2001, and the small local station grew into Upper Austria’s biggest private broadcaster. LT1 streams Upper Austrian news, regional football and cooking shows for free, paid for entirely by advertising. It is run from Linz by LT1 Privatfernsehen GmbH and its roots reach back to 1996.
The live stream on lt1.at and the channel on YouTube are open from anywhere, so you need no workaround to watch them. The catch is the Austrian feed on Joyn, cable and A1 TV, which stays locked to the country. If you travel or want a steady Austrian IP, ExpressVPN puts you back on the home network and playback runs smoothly up to 720p. Shows such as OÖ kocht with Silvia Schneider or the LT1 OÖ-Liga football magazine also sit in the Mediathek archive. The station runs no native app, so on mobile you reach it through the browser or YouTube.
Is LT1 available outside Austria?
Best VPN for LT1
Tested weekly by our team. Green: works, amber: partial, red: blocked.
| VPN Service | Price | LT1 | Tested | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ExpressVPNBEST | From $2.79/mo | ✓ Works | July 5 | Try it |
NordVPN | From $2.99/mo | ✓ Works | July 5 | Open |
Surfshark | From $1.78/mo | ✓ Works | July 5 | Open |
ProtonVPN | From $3.59/mo | ✓ Works | July 5 | Open |
Private Internet Access | From $1.79/mo | ✓ Works | July 2 | Open |
CyberGhost | From $1.75/mo | ✓ Works | July 3 | Open |
IPVanish | From $2.19/mo | ✓ Works | June 30 | Open |
How to Unblock LT1 with a VPN
Takes about 2 minutes. Works on your phone, tablet, TV, PC, or laptop.
- Pick a reliable VPNGo with ExpressVPN. An annual plan starts at $2.79 a month and earns its keep whenever you travel outside Austria.Skip free VPNs; they throttle speeds and cap your data.
- Connect to an Austrian serverChoose a server in Austria, ideally Linz or Vienna, to pick up the home IP that feeds like Joyn AT expect.
- Open LT1Load lt1.at or the Joyn app and start the live signal or the Mediathek archive. The website needs no sign-up.
- Watch in full qualityThe signal runs up to 720p, so OÖ kocht and the regional news arrive crisp and without buffering.
Which countries is LT1 available in?
LT1 is only available in Austria. To access it from anywhere else, use a premium VPN.
Available in 1 country No VPN needed
Blocked in 193 countries VPN required
Show all 181 more countries
LT1 is blocked in the United States, in the United Kingdom, in Australia, in Canada and in New Zealand, plus in 188 more countries. To access it, use a premium VPN like ExpressVPN.
Who’s behind the service?
What is LT1
LT1 is the largest private regional broadcaster in Upper Austria, based in the state capital Linz. It has been on air since 1996, originally under the name TV3, and has carried the LT1 brand since 2001. The station is run by LT1 Privatfernsehen GmbH and is free and ad-supported. Its programming focuses on the region: news in OÖ Aktuell, local sport including OÖ Fußball and the HC Linz, plus lifestyle and cooking shows such as OÖ Life and OÖ kocht. You can stream it for free through the Mediathek at lt1.at and on YouTube.
Company and history
- In 1996 Austria legalized private cable television. Wolf Dieter Holzhey won the licence for the Wels region, while TV3 was the only local channel broadcasting in Linz at the time.
- In 2000 Holzhey bought 100% of Privatfernsehen GmbH, the company running the Linz channel TV3, taking control of the only local broadcast in the Upper Austrian capital.
- In 2001 TV3 was renamed LT1 and switched from a weekly update to a daily current-affairs schedule, the moment today’s Linz-based regional brand was born.
- In April 2003 LT1 launched terrestrial broadcasting, pushing its signal to roughly 550,000 viewers across eastern Upper Austria and western Lower Austria.
- In June 2007 LT1 began digital terrestrial transmission from the Lichtenberg mast above Linz, giving viewers a steadier picture and wider reach across the region.
- A 2013 IMAS study put LT1’s daily audience at around 143,000 people, ranking the regional channel among the strongest private local stations in Austria.
- In February 2026 the fourteenth season of OÖ kocht with Silvia Schneider began from the kitchen studio in Rohrbach-Berg, and LT1 called 2025 the most successful year in its history.
- In May 2026 LT1 aired the sixth season of Endlich normal, in which nutrition expert Christian Putscher and program director Patricia Brock debunk popular myths about healthy eating.
Watch on all your devices
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Tips & tricks you should know
5 tips from our LT1 testing team · Updated June 27, 2026
- LT1 is completely free and ad-supported, so skip any sign-up and just open lt1.at or the LT1 OÖ channel on YouTube.
- A fresh half-hour of OÖ Aktuell news drops daily at 6 p.m. and then loops every 30 minutes, so you can still catch the latest edition late at night.
- Browse the Mediathek on lt1.at to stream past episodes of shows like OÖ kocht and the Freistoß football magazine on demand.
- The website and YouTube work worldwide, but the cable and Joyn feeds are Austria-locked, so connect ExpressVPN to Austria to unlock them from abroad.
- With no native app, cast the browser stream to your TV or use the YouTube app; satellite viewers need an MPEG4 HD receiver on ASTRA 19.2 degrees.
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Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know before subscribing to LT1.
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