RT TO START SAN-FRANCISCO CABLE BROADCAST

MOSCOW, FEBRUARY 01, 2011 – RT, the Russian English-language news channel, is starting round-the-clock broadcasting in San-Francisco. 4 million viewers in San-Francisco and its suburbs will now have access to RT through the major US cable network, Comcast.

“Research shows RT is growing more popular in the US, becoming a serious competitor to mainstream media. To continue providing a real alternative to major TV channels, RT should be easily available on cable. We already broadcast on cable in Washington and New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. San-Francisco is the next important step in expanding our American audience,” – says Margarita Simonyan, the channel’s editor-in-chief. Nielsen Media Research* 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. RT is available on cable in Washington D.C., New York, Los Angeles, San Diego and Chicago. RT programming is also accessible across the US via the GlobeCast WorldTV satellite platform. RT broadcasts around-the-clock from its studios in Moscow and Washington D.C. and is available online at RT.COM. RT was the first Russian channel to be nominated at the Emmie International awards of the International Academy of Television in 2010 in the “News” category. RT is currently approaching the 250 million views mark on Youtube. * 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. ** Time Warner Cable subscribers in New York.