26th March 1988
A working party is set up in Germany between the leaders of Baden-Würtemberg and Rheinland-Pfalz and the Mayor of Hamburg in the aim of developing a "Franco-German Culture Channel".

4th November 1988
- The French Government and the German "Länder" (exclusively in charge of German broadcasting) declare that they will examine the possibilities for creating a Franco-German Culture channel which could  become a European Culture Channel, with its Head Office in Strasbourg.
- At the 52nd Franco-German summit, Chancellor Helmut Kohl and President François Mitterrand affirm their support for this project.

30th May 1989
La SEPT broadcasts on the TDF 1-2 satellite.

3rd February 1990
La SEPT is broadcast every Saturday on FR3.

2nd October 1990
Just before German re-unification, the French Republic and the eleven German Länder sign an "interstate treaty" establishing the foundations of the European Culture Channel.

13th March 1991
ARTE Deutschland GmbH, the German unit, is founded in Baden-Baden. The two public channels ARD and ZDF each hold 50% of the capital.

30th April 1991
The European Culture Channel ARTE is founded in the form of a Consortium of European Economic Interests (G.E.I.E.). Its joint members are La SEPT and ARTE Deutschland TV GmbH.

30th May 1992
ARTE is  broadcast simultaneously for the first time in France and Germany by satellite (TDF 1-2 and DFS1-Kopernikus) and cable.

28th September 1992
ARTE is aired on the fifth French terrestrial network fed by the Telecom 2B satellite.

4th February 1993
RTBF (Radio-Télévision belge de la Communauté française), Belgium's French-language public radio and TV station, becomes an associate member of ARTE G.E.I.E.

27th September 1993
La SEPT changes its name to La Sept ARTE.

31st December 1994
ARTE is broadcast on the ASTRA 1D satellite.

1st January 1995
Two regional German channels, ORB (Potsdam) and MDR (Leipzig), both ARD members since 13th March 1991, join ARTE Deutschland TV GmbH.

6th July 1995
- ARTE and SRG SSR Idée Suisse (The Swiss Broadcasting Company) sign a Co-operation Agreement.
- ARTE is broadcast on the EUTELSAT 2 F1 satellite.

12th July 1995
ARTE and TVE (Television Española, S.A.), Spanish public television, sign a Co-operation Agreement.

23rd February 1996
The first "audiodescriptive" film is broadcast.

21st October 1996
ARTE launches its server on the Internet: www.arte-tv.com.

9th November 1996
The five "new Länder" become signatories of the "Interstate Treaty" of 2nd October 1990.

2nd December 1996
ARTE and TVP (Telewizja Polska S.A.) sign a Co-operation Agreement.

15th April 1997
Jérôme Clément, President of ARTE and of La SEPT ARTE`s Board of Directors, is appointed President of La Cinquième.

11th July 1997
ARTE and TVE (Televisión Española Ltd.) sign a second co-operation agreement.

30th August 1997
ARTE is broadcast on the numerical network of Germany's second public-service television channel (ZDF) using the ASTRA 1D satellite.

24th October 1997
ARTE is broadcast on the French numerical network Canalsatellite via the ASTRA 1F satellite.

15th January 1998
ARTE and ORF (Österreichisher Rundfunk) sign a co-operation agreement.

14th March 1998
ARTE's programmes are broadcast on the TPS and Canalsatellite French numerical networks  from 2 p.m. every day.

16th July 1998
La Sept Cinéma changes its name to ARTE France Cinéma.

11th September 1998
ARTE's programmes are broadcast on the German digital package ZDF-Vision from 2 p.m. every day.

1st January 1999
Jobst Plog becomes the first German President of ARTE.

3rd February 1999
Conclusion of a co-operative agreement between ARTE and the Finnish public-service television company YLE (TV1) (Yleisradio Oy (TV1)).

1st August 2000
La Sept ARTE changes its name to ARTE France.

10th November 2000
TVP (Telewizja Polska S.A.) becomes an associate member of ARTE G.E.I.E.