“Art” turns 30: the European cultural channel between TV and digital

From cable TV, via satellite to digital: the Franco-German channel “Arte” follows the transformation of the method of dissemination of cultural content in the form of video from the 90s to today and arrives at a precise choice, that of transposing the contents in a multiple and pervasive key, with the help of technology. We could thus summarize the evolution of a long-lived broadcaster, which in 1992 made its first broadcasts and which after thirty years adds (and does not replace) its traditional schedule with a digital platform with streaming programming in six European languages. In fact, “Arte.tv” was born a few years ago, in 2015, and since then it has implemented a gradual process of sharing and translation, to Make culture a living link between citizens in Europe.

In just six years, 115 million unique users a year benefit from a uniform selection online of about 400 hours of content and 300 hours of musical offerings, the Artè Concert, throughout the year, including documentaries, films, shows, but also insights dedicated to current affairs, on demand or live. “Certainly an excellent result – underlines Niccolò Inches, Editor and Communications Manager of” Arte “for Italy -” Arte “is a television channel, born as a public service, with a strong cultural imprint, which at a certain point considered the comparison with technology is essential, choosing to create a native platform and not a simple emanation of the Franco-German channel, dedicated to sharing the culture of Europe, in Europe and for Europe “.

If the television channel therefore broadcasts its entire program schedule in France and Germany (available in the original language also in Italy on Tivùsat), with the project co-financed by the European Union it offers a selection of contents that can be streamed in other European countries through ” arte.tv ”, with the aim of encouraging the multilingual dissemination of audiovisual content. The digital transposition, in fact, coincides with the start of the European project and the possibility for the user to view subtitles in French, German, English, Italian, Spanish and Polish. The “network” therefore brings European countries closer together, associates their interests and aligns their proposal, starting from the journalistic study: a network of reporters operates throughout the European territory, collecting current contents to be translated into investigations and reports.

Available on any connected device, via app for smartphones and tablets on Smart TV, the platform is therefore aggregator, in name and in fact: “the selection is made on the basis of interests – explains Niccolò Inches – often referable to current events, with focus on the war in Ukraine or docufilm on topical but fictional issues. In general we try more and more to broaden our cultural vocation to a heterogeneous catalog “. A few examples? From “H24”, a collection of twenty-four short films, made by a collective of European artists dedicated to the victims of abuse in “Mariupol”, a documentary made in 2016 by the Lithuanian Mantas Kvedaravicius, killed in early April while trying to leave the besieged city from the Russian army; from the documentary on the artist profile “Winona Ryder: talent and chaos” to the reportage “Re: how to live one’s transsexuality?”; from the focus “Finland: the story of an independent nation” to “Joe Hisaishi in concert”, with the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra.

“The intention – concludes Inches – is to increasingly widen the frontiers of offer, for example with fiction, to carry out projects such as“ ArteKino ”, a digital project on which the best cinematographic experiences curated by young European directors are channeled”. After all, “Arte” with its productions supports auteur cinema, as evidenced by its presence at the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, only this year with 33 films by European authors (including “Exterior night” by Marco Bellocchio ) and not only.