PwC STUDY FOR RT: AVAILABILITY, CURIOSITY, MOBILITY DRIVING GROWTH OF CROSS-BORDER NEWS

MOSCOW, APRIL 27, 2016 – PwC published today an independent, RT-commissioned study on cross-border news trends in 10 countries. The results reveal significant growth in cross-border news consumption over the last decade and identify resource availability, audience curiosity and international mobility as its key drivers.

“We found that the monthly use of cross-border news is prevalent in all markets, but particularly emerging ones; and that while the largest sources of cross-border news remain the long-established providers from the US and UK, the fastest-growing ones come from the Middle East, Asia and Russia. A vast majority of respondents also said their demand for different perspectives has increased over the past 10 years,” said Sam Tomlinson, PwC partner.

Margarita Simonyan, RT’s editor in chief, additionally assessed the results as follows: “Greater availability of news sources, curiosity about events and perspectives from different corners of the world, as well as our increasing propensity for moving around the planet are all driving people to not just consume news from more sources – but to reach across borders and even language barriers to do so. This study by PwC made one thing abundantly clear: the world today demands diversity in news more than ever before – which is exactly what RT has been providing for the last decade.”

The research focused on a quantitative survey of more than 5,000 news consumers across ten countries: the US, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Russia, Argentina, Mexico, Egypt and India. Interviews with executives at top global news media organizations offered qualitative insights. In addition to analysis of historical trends, the study offers a forecast on their continued evolution.

The study was commissioned for the 10-year anniversary of RT’s news broadcasting, and the highlights were presented by Tomlinson at RT’s international conference “Information, Messages, Politics: the shape-shifting powers of today’s world” in Moscow. You can read the full research here.