NEWS CHANNELS
|
THE CHANNEL
We expect
this
substance
'news'
everywhere
and at any
given
moment of
time
“
”
What's the secret of your success
on YouTube?
We were the first Russian station to
launch a channel on YouTube in
2007 and now we are the first TV
news channel to reach the 1bn mark
– we are the top news content
provider on the world’s largest
video‐sharing platform. Thatʹs a
major achievement. This February
when the Siberian meteor blast
happened, RT’s montage of
eyewitness footage became the
most watched video of the event on
YouTube, getting more than 30m
views in less than a week. We have
different channels on YouTube in
English, Spanish and Arabic.
Thereʹs no one secret to this, itʹs a
combination of things ‐ younger
journalists who grow with us, our
corporate ethics, an atmosphere
where everyone has a say, where
new ideas, sometimes crazy ideas,
are welcome. YouTube is the space
that reaches the most important,
young audience. So to appeal to
them on our YouTube channel there
is content that forms part of our
broadcast but we also create a lot of
original content just for this
platform.
On the one hand, the viewers
that go to our YouTube channel are
people who are interested in RT
and RTʹs point of view but cannot
get RT via cable & satellite, but on
the other hand, itʹs people who are
drawn to our original content and
the great videos we have on there,
and thatʹs how they learn about RT
the news channel. This helps grow
our brand globally.
What's your strategy for the
US market?
When the protests around ʹOccupy
Wall Streetʹ began, we were the
only international news channel to
report on this movement. For the
first 2‐3 weeks we were in fact the
only news channel telling the story.
During the most recent US
presidential election we took a
simple approach, and combined it
with a bit of thinking and planning.
Until they go to the voting booths
most Americans do not realize that
they have more than two
presidential candidates to choose
from because the other candidates
get practically no media coverage.
So we decided to air the first third
party debate – something that no
American TV channel, no matter
how well funded, was going to do –
and host the run‐off debate on top
of that. Incidentally that was also
the first time that Larry King
agreed to work with us because he
felt we were doing something that
was interesting professionally.
To sum it up, what we are doing
in the American market is covering
local and national stories that are
important to the local, American
audience, and that arenʹt covered
duly by the domestic channels.
What was the feedback to the
Julian Assange show?
It was a huge success. What made
the show so interesting was that it
touched on a lot of macro issues
that are not dealt with widely in
other media outlets. In April it won
the Silver World Medal at the NY
Festivals, the highest honour
awarded this year in the
ʹDocumentary: Politics TVʹ
category. Among the media
professionals, the exclusive
interviews with some of the most
influential politicians and thinkers
of today created a firestorm –
everybody wrote about it. Also
from our audience there was a huge
outpouring of commentary via
social media.
Do you need big names to stand out?
Itʹs content that rules the world
now. You cannot just bring in big
names, you have to create big
names. I think we have added to
the fame of Max Keiser for
example, he has become a
household name now. And often,
the people who came to us with no
experience, when they leave they
are offered excellent jobs in other
leading media outlets – well, thatʹs
a kind of compliment.
What about sports content?
Sport is very dear to my heart but I
have to live in the real world. In
sports broadcasting we cannot
directly compete with a specialised
TV channel or website. We try to
cover sports in a way where we can
add a fresh perspective – bring in
the human dimension, tell the
human story, not just report how
many goals and how many points.
You are in new premises now...
Itʹs a different world. Itʹs almost
three times the size of our old
premises – 28,000 sq metres, six
studios, open plan design. We have
state‐of‐the‐art technology that we
are the first broadcaster to use in
Russia. Everything we produce is in
HD now. That gives us a lot more
possibilities in terms of growing
our distribution.
What's the latest project?
We launched RUPTLY earlier this
year at MIP. There definitely is
room for more original news
content, for a new type of video
agency, especially when you are
thinking about the smaller media
outlets who sometimes want
something different. More things
happen in the world than are
reported and offered by existing
media agencies. Thatʹs basically the
same concept that underlies RT.
Also, in the relationship between
agency and client we wanted to
make the interface more user‐
friendly. A wide range of
subscription offers is available,
depending on whether you are a
small online outlet or a global news
network. Whatʹs brand‐new is that
our delivery platform allows
broadcasters to get the information
from our journalist on the ground ‐
via the internet, live as the events
are happening ‐ straight to
broadcast.
What's on your wishlist?
A few years ago people were
talking about the demise of
traditional journalism. I am much
more optimistic today. Standing by
your word, quality, knowledge,
competence ‐ I want those values to
be more and more in demand
around the world.
Alexey Nikolov, thank you.
THE CHANNEL
|
ISSUE 2 2013
|
49
www.rt.com
