Arte

The ARTE building in Strasbourg

Arte was initiated as a symbol of Franco-German friendship and had been championed since 1988 by French President François Mitterrand and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. It came to fruition on 2 October 1990, when an Interstate Treaty was signed between France and the German Länder.[5]

Arte began transmissions in 1992, filling frequencies left unused by the demise of La Cinq, the first French commercial television network (created in 1986). The opening night on 30 May 1992 was broadcast live from the Strasbourg Opera House.[6]

Arte started as an evening-only service. In the daytime, its frequencies were shared with other channels. A public channel called Télé Emploi occupied the French frequencies for about a month in 1994, before the start of La Cinquième (now France 5) in December that year. For viewers in Germany, Arte was assigned a frequency on the Astra 1D satellite in late 1994, and it was eventually shared with Nickelodeon Germany, later replaced by the new public children's channel Kinderkanal.

In 1996, it started offering an afternoon schedule with reruns for viewers on digital satellite and digital cable. A "proper" afternoon schedule with programmes between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. was introduced on 6 January 2001.[7] The channel eventually got its own analogue frequency on the Astra satellites.

Arte has been broadcasting 24/7 since 2005. In 2007 the online catch-up service ARTE+7 was launched and offers free access to a broad range of programs within seven days of their original transmission.[8]

In October 2020, Arte marked 30 years since the signing of its founding treaty between France and Germany.[5]

ARTE programmes are available with multi-channel audio: all programmes are broadcast in French and German. In addition, whenever possible the original version is offered with French and German subtitles and the hearing or visually impaired may get subtitles or audio description. Since 2015 a selection of programmes have been available online which include English and Spanish subtitles. Polish was to follow in late 2016.[9]

The channel is widely available in Europe. Both the German and the French versions can be received in nearly all of Europe via satellite Astra1 (19, 2° East) and the French version is also available via Hot Bird (13° East). ARTE is also relayed by all cable networks in Germany and France. It is also available on numerous cable networks in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

Arte has been broadcast since 2008 in HD in Germany and France. Like the national channels of their own respective countries, the German HDTVversion of ARTE broadcasts in 720p50, while the French one broadcasts in 1080i25. Broadcasting Center Europe (BCE), a subsidiary of RTL Group and located in Luxembourg (formerly known as CLT-UFA and before its merger with UFA, the Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion), provides most of the technical services for Arte.[10]

In April 2016 Arte co-produced, (with Astra satellite owner, SES) a live Ultra-high-definition television broadcast of the Le Corsaire ballet from the Vienna State Opera. The programme was transmitted free-to-air on the UHD1 demonstration channel from the Astra 19.2°E satellites.[11]

In July 2016, the Italian public broadcaster RAI Com signed a partnership agreement with Arte to collaborate on coproductions and programme acquisitions. In November 2016, the Irish public television RTÉ signed a partnership agreement with Arte to produce programmes related to arts, culture and history as well as web content for ARTE Concert and ARTE in English. Arte also has agreements with Yle (Finnish public broadcasting) and Film Fund Luxembourg (a national fund that supports Luxembourgish audiovisual productions).[5]

Arte programmes can be streamed live or watched on catch-up TV for at least 7 and up to 700 days on the arte.tv platform and on ARTE Concert.

Arte usually has more viewers in France than in Germany. In 2015, its share of overall viewing was about 2.2% in France and about 1% in Germany. Before cable and satellite became widely used in France, Arte was available to almost everyone as one of six analogue terrestrial channels. The other five channels were not direct competitors to Arte. In Germany, widespread cable and satellite penetration meant the vast majority of German households had access to about three dozen channels, including several from public broadcasters with content similar to that seen on Arte.[13] Arte's market share in France diminished since the introduction of digital terrestrial services. In Germany, it has been more or less flat.

• The Human Adventure – documentary series (1997–present)
• Arte Journal – news program (1992–present)
• Arte Reportage – current affairs program (2004–present)
• Arte Themenabend – themed evenings
• A Very Secret Service – spy comedy (2015–2018)
• The Boys from Baghdad High – documentary film
• Die Nacht/La Nuit – late-night news
• Do Not Track, a 2015 Arte co-produced web documentary
• Durch die Nacht mit … (2002–present)
• Geo 360° (1999–present)
• Karambolage – a show about French/German customs (2004–present)
• Kurzschluss (2001–present)
• Metropolis (2001–present)
• Mapping the World – geopolitical documentary (1992–present)
• Tracks – music program (1997–present)
• WunderWelten (2005–2009)
• Venice New Year's Concert (2016–present)

• 
  Arte's first logo, used from May 30, 1992 until January 2, 1995.
• 
  Arte's second and current logo since January 2, 1995.
• 
  Alternate version of the 1995 logo, used from January 3, 2004, until February 27, 2011.
• 
  Orange version of the 1995 logo, used from February 28, 2011, until March 24, 2017.
• 
  HD logo, used since June 10, 2010.
• 
  90° rotated version of the 1995 logo, used since March 25, 2017.

In the course of the channel's history, Arte productions and coproductions have received a number of important film awards, including several Oscars, Palmes d'Or (Cannes Film Festival), Golden Bears, Golden Lions, Golden Leopards, César Awards for Best Film and Best Documentary Film as well as Lolas in gold for the best film and the best documentary.[25]

In 2016, PRIX EUROPA awarded Arte the "Lifetime Achievement Award" "in honour of extraordinary achievements in the European media world".[26]

• European Institutions in Strasbourg
• France–Germany relations

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Arte GEIE.

• ARTE Website
• ARTE Corporate Website
• ARTE Radio
• ARTE's non free VoD service
• ARTE's non free VoD service

• Visual arts
• Classical music
• Art Film
• Literature
• Light art
• Poetry
• Art Film
• Design
• Fine-art photography
• Video production

48.5938°N 7.7662°E / 48.5938; 7.7662