Ici ARTV was licensed by the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) as
la Télé des Arts as a joint venture between the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC),
Télé-Québec,
Bell Globemedia,
Arte (through Arte France, a joint venture of
France Télévisions,
Radio France and
INA, both historically and formerly known as the
ORTF and the
French state) and
L'Équipe Spectra. The channel was launched on September 1, 2001 as
ARTV. In Fall 2007, L’Équipe Spectra sold its seven percent interest in the service to the CBC. CTVglobemedia also announced that it intended to sell its interest in the service to the CBC. The CRTC approved the transaction on June 20, 2008. In late 2010, Télé-Québec sold its interest to the CBC, bringing its total interest to 85%. On December 10, 2013, the network was re-branded as "Ici ARTV" as part of a plan to unify the CBC's French-language outlets around a single brand. On March 15, 2015, Arte sold its 15% interest in the channel, leaving the CBC as its sole shareholder.
Distribution Although most licensed
analogue specialty services are not mandatory carriage on analogue cable systems and can be carried on
digital cable, in all French language markets, Ici ARTV is mandatory carriage on analogue cable that receives the highest number of subscribers. In
English language markets, this condition does not apply. In regard to
satellite providers, Ici ARTV must be offered in a package that contains the greatest number of French language services. These conditions were applied by the CRTC to ensure the success of the service and that it has the ability to produce programs to fulfill its mandate as an arts and culture service. ==Programming==