Status

ARTE (Association Relative à la Télévision Européenne), a consortium of European economic interests (G.E.I.E.) was founded on 30th April 1991 by its two shareholders: ARTE France and ARTE Deutschland TV GmbH.

ARTE G.E.I.E. has also signed a partnership agreement with RTBF (Belgium) and co-operation agreements with SRG SRR Idée Suisse (Switzerland), TVE (Spain), TVP (Poland), ORF (Austria), RAI (Italy) and YLE (Finland).

Mission

The mission of ARTE G.E.I.E. is set out in Article 2 of its charter :

"The objective of this consortium is to create and produce television programmes of a cultural and international nature in the broadest sense, to be broadcast by itself or by other channels, via satellite or any other medium. These programmes should aim to promote mutual understanding and unity among the peoples of Europe."

Role

The  Head Office in Strasbourg   sets out ARTE's global strategy and determines general programme content and scheduling.

In addition to broadcasting and producing news and current affairs as well as certain topical evenings, ARTE G.E.I.E. is also  responsible for  programme presentation and language adaptation. It defines and co-ordinates the channel's communication strategy and manages relations between its European partners.

The French and German Units

Programmes supplied by the French and German units make up three quarters of ARTE's present output. The French and German units, ARTE France and ARTE Deutschland TV GmbH respectively, each provide 50% of this volume. Both units make suggestions about programming and supply Head Office with the programmes selected by the Programming Committee.

The French and German units jointly finance and control the management of ARTE G.E.I.E. They also represent the French and German partners within the consortium's governing bodies.

The French unit : ARTE France (previously called La Sept ARTE)

This unit is a spin-off from LA SEPT which laid the foundations for a European culture channel. It produces, co-produces and purchases programmes on behalf of ARTE. Its production policy is based upon its role of supporting creative and independent producers. ARTE France  occupies an important position in the French and European media industry.

ARTE France has created two subsidiaries :

- ARTE France Cinéma (previously called La Sept Cinéma) is a film production company.

- La Sept Vidéo produces video cassettes bearing the ARTE Vidéo label and mainly markets ARTE France productions.

Under the name of ARTE Editions, ARTE France has taken the channel's TV programmes into the worlds of books and multimedia.

ARTE France has also signed co-operation agreements authorising the use of its programmes by public television channels in Romania, ex-Yugoslavia and Bosnia Herzegovina. It has also signed  exchange agreements with television channels in Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Saint Petersburg.

The German unit : ARTE Deutschland TV GmbH

The German unit co-ordinates the supply of programmes to ARTE G.E.I.E., which are provided by the two public-service channels ARD and ZDF, both  joint members. The German unit monitors the entire production process, starting with proposals to Head Office, financing, delivery and broadcasting of programmes.

ARTE Deutschland provides financial support for the production of high-quality programmes which would be unfeasible without such backing. These programmes are usually reserved for premiere viewing on ARTE.

The German unit also organises discussion groups and decision-making sessions between Head Office and the German associates.

ARD¹, the major public service channel in Germany, is made up of 10 TV and radio channels based throughout Germany. They supply half of ARTE Deutschland's programmes, the volume being broken down as follows :

ZDF², Germany's second public service TV channel, is broadcast nationally.  Based in Mainz, it supplies the remaining 50% of ARTE Deutschland's programmes.

1 : Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
2 : Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen