ARTE is a Franco-German and European Adventure. Public service TV channel ARTE supports creativity and culture in all forms. Programs are broadcast 24/7 on all types of screens throughout Europe and beyond. The founding fathers of ARTE, François Mitterrand, Helmut Kohl and Lothar Späth, believed that a joint television channel should bring French and German citizens closer on a cultural level and promote cultural integration throughout Europe. Creating a television channel for two audiences was a first in television’s history and is still an exception in the global TV market to this date.
Heike Hempel, Head of the main editorial department for TV films/Series II at ZDF, becomes Vice President of ARTE GEIE from 1st January 2024. She succeeds Peter Weber, Head of Legal Affairs at ZDF.
Born of a Franco-German partnership in 1990 with the signing of an inter-state treaty, it was with the launch of broadcasting on 30 May 1992 that ARTE, the European Culture Channel, became a reality for all French and German viewers.
Today, still faithful to its values of quality, creativity and diversity, ARTE offers content in six languages on a large number of platforms.
Bruno Patino becomes President, Peter Weber Vice President of ARTE GEIE
January 2021
Bruno Patino, President of ARTE France, becomes President of ARTE GEIE from 1st January 2021. Peter Weber, Head of Legal Affaires at the ZDF, becomes Vice President.
Tom Buhrow and Nicolas Seydoux take the chairmanship of the General Assembly of ARTE GEIE
January 2021
Tom Buhrow, President of Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) and Chairman of the German association of public broadcasters ARD, becomes Chairman of the General Assembly of ARTE GEIE. Nicolas Seydoux, President of Gaumont becomes Vice Chairman.
ARTE celebrates 30 years since the signing of its founding treaty between France and Germany!
2nd October 2020
ARTE is a symbol of Franco-German friendship. The project, which had been championed since 1988 by French President François Mitterrand and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, came to fruition on 2 October 1990, when an Interstate Treaty was signed between France and the German Länder.