Case study: Arte.TV Cinema

The last conference of this second day was an opportunity to examine the economic model of Arte's cinema branch, particularly the importance of replay in this ecosystem.

In a television environment driven by audiences, Arte is an exception. In addition to its role as a cultural bridge between France and Germany, the television channel has found its public by offering an unprecedented range of heritage films. This trend has been accentuated since the launch of the free replay service on the web.

An offer born of a desire for transmission that Sophie Tran, Anne Bidaux and Nina Goslar (from the German branch of the seventh channel) had come to discuss with Emmanuelle Spadacenta, editor-in-chief of Cinemateaser. Inhabited by a communicative cinephilia, these three speakers are working to expand the catalogue of the streaming platform dedicated to heritage cinema. As Anne Bidaux puts it, their selection is the result of a mixture of personal favourites and works that resonate with current events, as shown by the Vampires and Philippe Garrel cycles created in partnership with La Cinémathèque française. 

The public service mission carried out by Arte's teams has required new expertise in contract negotiations. Since the exploitation of works differs from simple prime-time broadcasting, the Franco-Germanic channel was forced to buy the titles for a longer period and at a higher price. A godsend for publishers that does not stop there according to Nina Goslar. In response to the shakiness of some entitled parties about the free nature of the work, the German manager considers the process to be beneficial to the sale of physical copies. A conviction based on the argument that spectators would find it easier to buy a work they are already familiar with. 

Free access is not Arte's only argument for attracting audiences to heritage films. Promotional teams have adjusted to social network codes to attract an increasingly younger audience. Between short animated films and vlogs (video blogs) promoting available films, Arte could well be one of the vectors of the renewed interest of young people in heritage cinema and one of the leaders in its dematerialization.