Association for European Television (Association relative à la télévision européenne, ARTE) was established in 1991 and is based in Strasbourg. It is a Franco-German public broadcaster. The channel runs mostly documentaries, feature films and news-related programs.
Media assets
Television: ARTE
State Media Matrix Typology: Independent State-Managed (ISM)
Ownership and governance
ARTE group is a Strasbourg-based company that consists of two units, ARTE France and ARTE Deutschland TV. France Télévisions majority owns ARTE France, with a stake of 45%. The rest is in the hands of the French state (25%), Radio France (15%) and INA (15%).
The main governing body at ARTE group is the General Assembly, which consists of 12 members, six from each its German and French units. They meet four times a year in Strasbourg. The assembly makes the key decisions regarding the strategy of the company, approves the group’s business plan and appoints the management board of ARTE group, which runs the company’s daily operations.
When it comes to ARTE France, its main governing is the Supervisory Board, which consists of 12 members, including one representative of the French government and three staff representatives. The others are top managers at French private companies and CEOs of French public media. They are all appointed by the General Assembly of Shareholders.
It is a collegiate body that makes decisions about major strategic and economic issues at ARTE. The Supervisory Board appoints the members of the ARTE France’s Executive Board, which is in charge of managing the company’s day-to-day operations.
Source of funding and budget
Nearly 95% of ARTE’s funding comes from license fee (a tax paid by citizens to finance public media) in France and Germany. The channel is legally forbidden to carry advertising. It can generate some income on its own from commercial sources such as sponsorship.
The funding allocated to ARTE France is based on a contract between the station and the French state that covers the broadcaster’s program goals and resources for a period of four years. Each year, the French Parliament approves ARTE detailed budget as part of the national budget vote.
ARTE as a company consists of two corporate entities, ARTE France and ARTE Deutschland TV. Each of them publishes its own financial reports. In 2020, ARTE had a budget of €140.1m, according to the station’s latest annual report. In 2022, the company had a total budget of €148.9m, according to the latest data from the company.
Editorial independence
There is no evidence of government control over ARTE’s editorial output. The channel has gained an immense reputation as an independent broadcaster with a large production of groundbreaking television productions. It has partnerships with nine European public service channels.
ARTE has an editorial policy adopted by a program committee that convenes once a month in Strasbourg to decide what programs will be screened on ARTE.
This committee consists of the station’s program director, three further representatives of ARTE in Strasbourg and two representatives each from the French and German units.
ARTE has numerous internal auditing mechanisms, most of which are focused on the company’s financial management.
The station also has a program advisory committee that advises the Management Board and the General Assembly on programming issues. The members of this committee are all leading personalities from civil society and arts: eight of them come from Germany and another eight from France.
As part of its whistleblowing policy, ARTE guarantees all its staff and collaborators the right to inform management about any problematic situations without fear of reprisal.
September 2023