RT Begins Broadcasting In HD Worldwide From New, State Of The Art Studio

MOSCOW, Dec. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- RT, the global international news network, has switched all of its English-language news broadcasting to High Definition format effective December 16, 2012. The switch to HD was enabled by RT's move of its studios and headquarters offices to a brand new facility in Moscow.

RT's relocation on the eve of its seven-year anniversary is the result of the extraordinary growth experienced by the network since its inception. The HD broadcasting launch marks another important achievement by RT, while such delivery is not yet offered by many other major international news channels.

"We are incredibly proud of everything we have accomplished in just seven short years," says Margarita Simonyan, RT's editor in chief. "The switch to HD is just the next step as we continue to grow and expand. The upgraded capabilities of our new, technologically sophisticated facility allow us to stay ahead of the competition."

When RT first launched its 24-7 news broadcast in December of 2005, it employed some 300 journalists and was comprised of just one TV channel, airing in English. Today the network boasts the staff of more than 2000 professionals, and its five channels broadcast in English, Arabic and Spanish, reaching 550 million people in more than 100 countries around the globe. In 2012, RT became the first Russian TV channel ever to garner a second nomination for the prestigious International Emmy award for its news coverage.

RT is the 2^nd most watched foreign news channel in key cities in the US, according to a Nielsen study* and was the third most watched news channel overall in the UK in 3Q2012 according to BARB**. With more than 830 million views to date, RT's YouTube channel is the largest provider of news video footage on the platform, according to a 2012 Pew Research Center study and the network's online video agency boasts more than 13,000 subscribers, including top TV channels and agencies from 185 countries.

*Based on weekly viewership

**BARB Quarterly Reach Report- Quarter 3 2012 (BARB weeks 2293-2305) Individuals 4+ + (http://www.barb.co.uk/report/quarterly-channel-reach-open/download/2012-Q3-QTVS.pdf)

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SOURCE RT