The Stage

Artsworld goes free in bid to raise BSkyB profile

Published Tuesday 21 June 2005 at 15:40 by Liz Thomas

Satellite giant BSkyB is to make Artsworld available to its subscribers free of charge in a bid to change the public’s perception of the Murdoch-owned broadcaster’s programming and widen its appeal.

The move follows an agreement between Sky - which acquired a 50% stake in the UK’s only dedicated arts and culture channel in 2003 - and private investors who own the remaining 50%, allowing it to take full control of the channel from September.

The service currently costs an additional £6 a month on top of the standard subscription fee but the broadcaster is keen to raise its profile for high-quality programming. Sky hopes offering the service free of charge will increase the station’s potential audience from hundreds of thousands to several million. Every month Artsworld broadcasts seven full-length operas, ten hours of dance and 60 hours of classical performance and drama.

Dawn Airey, managing director of Sky Networks, said: “It occupies a unique space in television broadcasting and is valued enormously by a loyal and discerning audience. Its success is a tribute to its founders, who had the vision to launch a dedicated arts channel at a time when other broadcasters were scaling back their commitment in this area. Artsworld’s distinctive schedule will enrich Sky’s channel packages and support our drive to bring a wider choice of viewing to more customers.”

Sky chief executive James Murdoch has been keen to overhaul the broadcaster’s image as just a service providing football and film. Attracting new audiences with quality and original programming is part of his strategy to ensure the company’s long-term growth. As part of the drive, it ran the high-profile advertising campaign “What do you want to watch?”, which aimed to show viewers the range of services and highlight the wide range of channels and choice available rather focusing on its most popular genres of sport and entertainment.

It has also subsidised theatre and opera seats and signed up as the principal sponsor of the English National Opera. Artsworld was launched by Channel 4 founder Jeremy Isaacs in 2000.

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