Sky is making its dedicated arts and culture channel free-to-air with a launch on Freeview set for September.
The linear channel will be available to all viewers, however its on-demand content will remain exclusive to Sky and NOW TV customers.
Sky Arts has also announced a series of bursaries worth £30,000 each, where leading figures from the arts will support and mentor diverse and emerging new artists.
The broadcaster said the move to FTA will include a “bold new slate of original programmes and increased and deepened partnerships with artists and arts organisations, providing them with a platform to create and showcase their work.”
Phil Edgar-Jones, director of Sky Arts, said,“As a free to air channel I hope that Sky Arts can help arts organisations and cultural institutions of all shapes and sizes across the UK, providing them with a platform to create and showcase their work to a broad audience. With our renewed focus and mission to increase accessibility and participation across the arts, we want to hear from everyone with ideas for how we might be able to work together – we can only succeed with artists and creatives at the heart of what we do.”
