RT (TV network)

• 1. Founding And Strategic Origins

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  On the 10th of December 2005, a new television channel named Russia Today began broadcasting from Moscow. The Russian government established this network to counter Western media narratives and improve the country's international image. Vladimir Putin appointed Margarita Simonyan as editor-in-chief when she was just 25 years old. She had worked in journalism since age 18 and previously served as a Kremlin pool reporter. At launch, the channel employed 300 journalists, including approximately 70 from outside Russia. RIA Novosti director Svetlana Mironyuk stated that at the time of founding, Russia was associated with three words in the West: communism, snow, and poverty. The goal was to present a more complete picture of life within the country. In April 2005, ANO TV-Novosti was registered as an autonomous non-commercial organization. Sergey Frolov was appointed its CEO. Half of the initial budget came from the Russian government, while the other half came from pro-Kremlin commercial banks. The start-up costs totaled $30 million for the first year of operation.

• 2. Global Expansion And Language Strategy

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  RT launched its Arabic-language channel Rusiya Al-Yaum in 2007. This marked the beginning of a multilingual expansion strategy targeting specific regions. The Spanish language channel Actualidad RT followed in 2009. RT America opened in 2010 to focus on United States audiences. A dedicated German service began operations in 2014, though it faced delays due to economic factors. The French-language channel arrived in 2017. By March 2022, the network's feed reached about 700 million households across more than 100 countries via 22 satellites. RT maintained 21 bureaus in 16 countries including Washington D.C., London, Paris, Delhi, Cairo, and Baghdad. In August 2007, an RT crew reported live from the North Pole during the Arktika 2007 expedition led by Artur Chilingarov. Their broadcast lasted five minutes and 41 seconds. On the 31st of December 2007, RT's New Year's Eve celebrations were shown hours before events at Times Square in New York City. The channel also produced documentary content through RT Documentary which launched in 2011.

• 3. Programming Evolution And Notable Hosts

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  The Alyona Show ran from 2009 to 2012 with host Alyona Minkovski who later joined The Huffington Post. Daily Beast writer Tracy Quan described this program as one of RT's most popular vehicles. Benjamin R. Freed wrote that Minkovski was probably the best interviewer on cable news. Her segments covered government spying, the Federal Reserve, and America's undeclared wars. Adam vs. the Man aired from April to August 2011 hosted by former Iraq War Marine veteran Adam Kokesh. Kokesh defended RT's function saying they put out truth no one else wanted to say. World Tomorrow debuted on the 17th of April 2012 and was hosted by Julian Assange under house arrest. His first guest was Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah who rarely gives interviews to Western media. Assange said RT allowed guests to discuss things they could not say on mainstream networks. Larry King joined RT in May 2013 with a new political show called Politicking. He brought his Hulu series Larry King Now to the network. On the 13th of June 2013, RT aired a preview telecast discussing Edward Snowden's leaking of the PRISM surveillance program.

• 4. Regulatory Conflicts And Bans

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  On the 27th of February 2022, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced an EU ban on RT operating in its 27 member countries. This resulted in RT being blocked on downstream television networks outside the EU such as the United Kingdom and Singapore. Canadian telecom companies Shaw, Rogers, Bell, and Telus stopped offering RT in their channel lineups. Ofcom opened 15 expedited investigations into RT on the 28th of February focusing on news editions broadcast between 05:00 and 19:00 that day. The regulation making the ban effective was published on the 3rd of March. Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok made RT content unavailable to users in the European Union on the 28th of February. Microsoft removed RT from MSN and the Microsoft Store on the same day. YouTube banned access to all RT channels in Europe including Britain on the 1st of March. Apple removed the RT app from all countries except Russia. Roku dropped the RT app from its channel store while DirecTV pulled RT America from its lineup. On the 11th of March, YouTube blocked RT worldwide. From the 16th of March, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission officially banned RT France from authorized distribution lists. Between 22 and the 26th of February 2022, posts on Facebook from RT received more than 5 million likes, shares, and comments.

• 5. Disinformation Campaigns And Accusations

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  Academics, fact-checkers, and news reporters have identified RT as a purveyor of disinformation and conspiracy theories. In 2010, The Economist observed that RT presented wild conspiracy theories regarded as kooky alongside interesting programming. A 2013 article in Der Spiegel said RT used a chaotic mixture of conspiracy theories and crude propaganda. The Boston Marathon bombing story mutated into a U.S. government conspiracy theory within RT coverage. Tony Gosling, an exponent of long-discredited conspiracy theories concerning the Illuminati, was employed by RT. RT broadcast stories about microchips being implanted into office workers in the EU to make them more submissive. It falsely reported about a kidnapping of a Russian girl in Germany. In 2017, RT started its own fact-checking project called FakeCheck which mixed legitimate debunks with scantily sourced content. Ben Nimmo found four out of nine articles published in the first two weeks contained inaccuracies. The channel was involved in a fake news scandal about a Putin burger claimed to be on a New York diner menu celebrating Vladimir Putin's birthday. This story was quickly exposed as fabrication and removed from their site. When caught publishing false information, RT frequently deleted material without further comment.

• 6. Financial Structure And Budget Allocation

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  When established in 2005, ANO TV-Novosti invested $30 million in start-up costs for RT. Its annual budget increased from approximately $80 million in 2007 to $380 million in 2011 before dropping to $300 million in 2012. About 80 percent of RT's costs were incurred outside Russia paying partner networks around $260 million for distribution in 2014. In 2014, RT received 11.87 billion rubles ($310 million) in government funding. It was expected to receive 15.38 billion rubles ($400 million) in 2015. As of 2022, RT is the leader in state funding among all Russian media. Between 2022 and 2024, RT will receive 82 billion rubles. The network employed 2,000 staff by 2010. Half of the initial budget came from pro-Kremlin commercial banks at the government's request. In December 2012, RT moved its production studios and headquarters to a new facility in Moscow upgrading all English-language news programming to high-definition.