MOSCOW, JANUARY 9, 2011 – Viewers in Washington and New York prefer RT to other major international news channels as their source of daily information, a survey by Nielsen Media Research shows.
Nielsen finds RT's average daily audience in Washington is bigger than that of Deutsche Welle, France 24, Euronews, and CCTV News, the English-language Chinese news channel. In New York the Nielsen survey indicates that the channel’s daily audience exceeds the average daily audience of Deutsche Welle, Al Jazeera English and CCTV News. Survey has found 87% of respondents in Washington and New York** consider mainstream channels, such as CNN and BBC America, biased. At the same time 42.6% of RT viewers appreciate RT’s critical take on news or difference from mainstream media, and see it as an alternative to biased mainstream news. Nielsen Media Research conducted the survey in the fall of 2010 with 2,192 residents of Washington, DC and 2,180 residents of New York**. Nielsen Company operates in over 100 countries. It is considered one of the leaders in the TV market research sector, and the most authoritative source for television ratings in the U.S. * Respondents who have ever watched RT ** Time Warner Cable subscribers in New York