RTG CORP launches
RTG International
Russian Travel Guide TV (RTG TV)
is an international documentary
TV channel focused on the
cultural and geographical variety
of the world’s largest country,
Russia. Now RTG CORP, leader
in the production of documentary
films in Russia and the countries
of the CIS, have launched RTG
International. This new premium
content documentary channel on
travels around the world started
broadcasting on 16 January in
English, Turkish and Russian.
The channel’s international
programme schedule includes
unique content about Russia
from the RTG TV and RTG HD
channels. It covers a wide range
of topics from nature and the
animal kingdom to active
recreation, hunting and fishing,
cruises and excursions, tours of
towns and cities, resorts, people,
culture, religion, history,
ethnography, cuisine, science
and technology.
Brand new RT in UK
Soon viewers in the UK can catch
a brand new RT news channel
broadcasting programming
exclusive to their country. During
the prime-time block RT will air
news reports, local breaking
stories and talk shows dedicated
to the United Kingdom’s most
pressing political, social and
economic issues.
The new UK channel will be
launched in the spring of 2014,
once the work is completed on
RT’s new London studios,
located in the Millbank Tower in
Westminster. RT has had a
bureau presence for many years
and has been broadcasting in the
UK since 2006, where it is now
available around the clock to
more than 55m people via
BSkyB, Freeview and FreeSat
platforms. It has been airing in
HD since December 2012.
Two new, UK-oriented
programmes have already made
their debut on RT:
Going
Underground
with award-
IN BRIEF
INDIA TV
RATINGS
India’ s Ministry of
Information & Broadcasting
has released guidelines
specifying procedures that TV
rating agencies in the country
have to follow, which come
into force on15 February
2014. No rating agencies are
allowed to publish ratings
until they are in compliance
with these guidelines. Once a
company is registered, it has
to generate and publish
ratings within six months,
otherwise the registration will
be cancelled.
AL JAZEERA TURK
In what is the first digital-only
launch in the history of the
network, Al Jazeera has
launched its Turkish
language service through the
web portal aljazeera.com.tr
which will be complemented
by mobile apps and a digital
magazine in Turkish. Based
in Turkey, the site is aimed at
Turkish speakers throughout
the world, with a significant
pre-launch social media
engagement in Azerbaijan,
Germany, the US, Bosnia, UK,
Cyprus and The Netherlands.
AJT’s news director Gürkan
Zengin said staff would enjoy
complete editorial
independence.
US SVOD
“The State of SVOD” report
from the NPD Group reveals
that subscriptions to HBO,
Showtime, and other
premium TV channels have
declined over the past two
years, as Netflix and other
subscription video-on-
demand services have
gained in popularity. There
was a 6 percentage point
overall decline in US
households subscribing to
premium TV channels over
the past two years, while
households subscribing to
SVOD grew 4 points. Netflix
remains the leader in SVOD
but Hulu Plus and Amazon
Prime are showing growth
as consumers tack on
secondary SVOD services.
winning British journalist Afshin
Rattansi looks at stories that
aren’t being covered by other UK
media; and
Sputnik
, anchored by
George Galloway, takes a fresh
look at the news that have made
the headlines.
In 2010 the network launched
its first market-specific channel
with the opening of RT America’s
studios in Washington, DC. RT is
available in three languages to
nearly 650m people in more than
100 countries worldwide.
Power of
the crowd
Sweden-based crowd curated
video news service RiviNews has
recently signed up RT Ruptly to
distribute content through its
online platform, due to launch
later this year. This follows
signings with global news agencies
AP and Reuters, Swedish media
companies TT and TV4 and the
Netherland’s ANP, with more
deals in the pipeline.
RiviNews is a radical, new
online platform enabling users to
access and share stories from
around the world among their
social networks. It will provide an
outlet for content providers to
monetise their video news.
Revenues generated through
targeted advertising will be
shared between content
providers, users and NGOs.
Founder and CEO Henrik Eklund
says the deal with RT Ruptly
takes RiviNews a step closer to
realising the end goal of creating
the most relevant and sustainable
news source in the world.
THE CHANNEL
|
MEDIA MARKETS
Vizrt signs Thai Rath deal
Vizrt has signed a deal worth
US$1.4m for the implementation
of broadcast graphics and media
asset management (MAM)
products with Thai Rath,
Thailand’s oldest and best-
selling newspaper. Thai Rath is
preparing to launch a TV channel
in 2014 with a comprehensive
Vizrt solution, designed for easy
multiplatform distribution of
content.
The deal includes an
enterprise MAM version of Viz
One, Vizrt's complete end-to-end
solution for the creation,
management and delivery of
media assets. Vizrt will also
deliver several Viz Engines,
Vizrt’s real-time compositor, as
well as Viz Virtual Studio for the
broadcaster to expand its virtual
set capabilities.
The Vizrt Social TV solution
was purchased to give
journalists a tool for moderating
and distributing social media
content for on-air use. Viz World
is adding editorial capabilities
that will allow journalists to
create local street maps or
animated maps.
08
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ISSUE 1 2014
|
THE CHANNEL
