The Franco-German cultural channel Arte has said it will introduce an app to show its catch-up TV service Arte +7 on iPhones. Like the online version, viewing will be free of charge.
All programmes from the channel, for which the rights are cleared, will become available on the service. In the past year the best watched programme on the online catch-up service was an episode of the German crime series Im Angesicht des Verbrechens (In the face of crime), which received 64,000 stream requests.
Arte has also built a video presence with its own channel on YouTube. This service is also available free of charge, but is financed by sharing advertising revenue.
Arte also plans to expand its HD programming and make more 3D productions. In the planning are the New Year’s show Slava’s Snow Show, featuring the Russian clown Slava Polunin and a dance film about Pina Bausch (Pina), which will be shown on the channel after its theatrical release.
