RT LAUNCHES RTDoc - DOCUMENTARY CHANNEL ON RUSSIA

MOSCOW, JUNE 23, 2011 – The RT family has a new member. RTDoc, a TV channel featuring documentaries about Russia, has launched, broadcasting 24/7 in English. The new channel’s open signal coming from the Hot Bird satellite will be received by 120 million households across Europe as well as in the Middle East and Northern Africa.

The bulk of RTDoc broadcast will be exclusive documentaries about Russia, produced in-house by RT. Among them films that have won international prizes such as Media Excellence and New York Festivals Awards. “Cable operators welcome documentary content in their networks because it remains invariably popular with audiences. Viewers tire of dynamic news streams and switch to ethnographic and educational formats. We’re launching a new documentary channel about Russia exactly for the purpose of giving the viewer this alternative,” said Margarita Simonyan, RT editor-in-chief. Strong interest has been shown by cable operators all over the world. RTDoc’s reach covers network subscribers in Germany, Ireland, Portugal and Bulgaria. In the United States and Canada, more than a million viewers can watch RTDoc on the IPTV Roku system. Viewers can also watch RTDoc online at the RTD.RT.COM. The new channel will feature a documentary series on Russian cities (Discovering Russia), customs and traditions of the peoples of Russia (Faces of Russia), science and technology (Technology Update) as well as a series on the environment (Meeting with Nature). Historical Faces explores the history of Russia and Culture Fair will broadcast films on culture, art and fashion. Inter-program section will diversify the content. For example, A Little Bit of Russian will help English speaking viewers learn the basics of the Russian language. RT correspondents, editors and presenters will play the role of teachers. In addition to RTDoc, the RT family unites four TV News channels, an online video agency and four multimedia portals. The English-language RT channel went on air in December 2005; the Arabic channel Rusiya-al-Yaum was launched in May 2007; in December 2009, RT launched its Spanish-language channel. RT America, broadcasting in prime time to American viewers, was the last in line: going on air in January 2010. RT was the first Russian television channel to be nominated for an Emmy International Television Awards, a TV Oscar, in the News category, while RT’s YouTube channel is close to half a billion views. RTDoc’s broadcast on Hot Bird satellite: Hot Bird 8, 13°E (frequency : 12015 Mhz, polarization: H, symbol rate: 27500, FEC: ¾)