About Ici ARTV

Ici ARTV

Ici ARTV (stylized ICI artv) is a Canadian French-language arts and culture specialty channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Société Radio-Canada) and headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Broadcasting music, dance, theatre, visual arts, film, and scripted series, the channel is the francophone television home of the arts in Canada. Its official website is ici.artv.ca.

Overview

Ici ARTV's mandate is culture: the schedule features performances — concerts, dance, theatre productions — alongside documentaries on artists and artistic movements, visual-arts programming, films, and scripted series with cultural resonance. The channel serves francophone audiences who want the arts on television, from classical music lovers to contemporary art followers, and its programming spans the high arts and popular culture.

As a CBC-owned service, the channel complements Radio-Canada's cultural programming with a dedicated arts destination. Its schedule is curated for cultural depth rather than mass ratings, making it a distinctive voice in the French specialty landscape.

History

Ici ARTV was licensed by the CRTC as la Télé des Arts — a joint venture of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Télé-Québec, Bell Globemedia, Arte (through Arte France, the French-German cultural channel partnership), and L'Équipe Spectra, the Montreal entertainment company. The channel launched September 1, 2001, as ARTV, bringing together public broadcasters, a European cultural partner, and Quebec's entertainment industry in an unprecedented alliance.

Ownership consolidated over the following decade: L'Équipe Spectra sold its interest to the CBC in 2007, CTVglobemedia signaled its intent to sell as well (approved June 2008), and Télé-Québec sold its 25% stake to the CBC in late 2010, bringing the public broadcaster's holding to 85%. On December 10, 2013, the channel was rebranded Ici ARTV as part of the CBC's unification of its French-language services around the Ici brand. On March 15, 2015, Arte sold its remaining 15% interest, leaving the CBC as the channel's sole owner.

Programming

The performing arts anchor the schedule: concerts (classical, jazz, and contemporary), dance performances, and theatre productions, many of them recorded in Quebec venues and featuring Canadian artists. Visual-arts programming — documentaries on painters, sculptors, photographers, and movements — complements the performance slate, while the channel's film programming showcases art-house and Quebec cinema. Scripted series with cultural themes round out the schedule.

Original productions — developed with Quebec's cultural institutions — give the channel exclusive content and support the province's arts community. The channel's partnerships with festivals, orchestras, and theatre companies make it a broadcast extension of Quebec's cultural life, and its programming often coincides with live seasons and exhibitions.

Coverage & Audience

Ici ARTV is distributed nationally on cable, IPTV, and satellite, serving francophone households across Canada with a concentration in Quebec. Its audience is the culturally engaged francophone — arts lovers, educated viewers, and the creative community — an audience that values the channel's curatorial role. The channel also streams through RiverTV, extending its reach to cord-cutters.

The channel's audience loyalty reflects its uniqueness: for francophones who want the arts on television, there is no alternative, and the channel's cultural credibility makes it a reference for Quebec's artistic community.

Ownership

Ici ARTV is owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Société Radio-Canada), Canada's national public broadcaster, which became the sole shareholder in 2015. Within the CBC's French-language services, the channel sits alongside Ici Radio-Canada Télé, Ici RDI, and Ici Explora, forming the corporation's French television portfolio. Public ownership underpins the channel's cultural mandate and its freedom from commercial ratings pressures.

Performing Arts Coverage and Cultural Institutions

Ici ARTV's performing arts programming — the concerts, dance performances, and theatre productions that anchor its schedule — connects the channel to Quebec's cultural institutions: the orchestras, dance companies, and theatre troupes whose work the channel broadcasts. These partnerships give viewers access to performances they might never attend in person, democratizing the performing arts.

The channel's classical music programming — the symphony broadcasts, opera presentations, and chamber music features — serves the francophone classical audience with the same dedication that its contemporary arts programming serves younger viewers. The channel's dance coverage — from ballet to contemporary — showcases the physical artistry that television captures uniquely well.

Ici ARTV's theatre broadcasts — the filmed stage productions — preserve Quebec's theatrical heritage while making it accessible: the landmark productions, the emerging playwrights, and the vibrant theatre scene find their broadcast window on the channel.

Visual Arts and Documentary Programming

The channel's visual arts programming — documentaries on painters, sculptors, photographers, and artistic movements — explores the creative process with the depth that the subject deserves. These programs serve both the art-world insider and the curious viewer, balancing expertise with accessibility.

Ici ARTV's artist profiles — the intimate portraits of Quebec creators — build the audience's relationship with the province's cultural figures, while its coverage of exhibitions and festivals connects viewers to the contemporary art scene.

CBC French Services Integration and Cultural Mandate

Ici ARTV's integration into the CBC's French-language services — alongside Ici Radio-Canada Télé, Ici RDI, Ici Musique, and the digital platforms — gives the arts channel the institutional support of the national public broadcaster: the shared technical infrastructure, the cross-promotional power, and the journalistic resources that sustain its cultural programming. The "Ici" branding — unified across the French services since the 2013 rebrand — signals this integration to audiences.

The channel's cultural mandate — the CRTC licence conditions requiring arts programming — protects its distinctive positioning: unlike commercial channels that might chase ratings with entertainment formats, Ici ARTV must program the performing and visual arts. This regulatory protection, combined with public ownership, gives the channel the freedom to serve culture rather than commerce.

The channel's partnerships with Quebec's cultural institutions — the orchestras, theatre companies, dance troupes, museums, and festivals — make it the broadcast extension of the province's arts ecosystem: the performances it airs, the artists it profiles, and the exhibitions it covers connect viewers to the cultural life they might otherwise miss.

Original Productions and Festival Coverage

Ici ARTV's original productions — the performance recordings, artist documentaries, and cultural magazines developed with Quebec producers — represent significant investments in French-language arts television. These productions, often created in partnership with the cultural institutions they feature, give the channel exclusive content while supporting the arts community.

The channel's festival coverage — the jazz festivals, film festivals, and performing arts events that define Quebec's cultural calendar — brings these celebrations to viewers province-wide: the performances, the interviews, and the behind-the-scenes features extend the festival experience beyond attendees.

Dance and Theatre Broadcasting

Ici ARTV's dance programming — the ballet performances, contemporary dance features, and the choreographic documentaries — brings the physical art form to television: the camera's intimacy captures the dancers' athleticism and artistry, the close-ups reveal the emotional expression, and the broadcast extends the performance beyond the theatre's walls. The channel's dance coverage serves the francophone dance audience that lacks dedicated alternatives.

The theatre broadcasts — the filmed stage productions from Quebec's vibrant theatre scene — preserve the ephemeral art: the landmark productions, the emerging playwrights' premieres, and the directorial visions that define eras. These broadcasts create the theatrical archive that future generations will study.

Digital Presence

Ici ARTV's official website at ici.artv.ca offers schedules, program information, and video extras in French. The channel streams through RiverTV and Radio-Canada's digital platforms, making its arts programming available on demand. Social media accounts in French promote performances, share artist features, and engage the cultural community, and the channel's content — from concert excerpts to artist interviews — is natively suited to digital sharing. Integration with the CBC's digital ecosystem extends the channel's reach across platforms.