. it is not to be confused with rossiya segodnya or russian federation today . rt launched december 10 2005 2005 12 10 registered on april 6 2005 1 owned by ano tv novosti 2 picture format 1080i hdtv hd feed downgraded to letterboxed 480i 576i for sdtvs slogan question more country russia language english arabic spanish news channel english russian documentary channel german french online platforms 3 broadcast area worldwide headquarters moscow russia formerly called russia today 2005 2009 sister channel s rt arabic rt en espa ol rt america rt uk rt documentary rt deutsch website rt.com availability terrestrial freeview uk channel 135 sd channel 113 hd with rt uk mhz networks u.s. wnvc 30.4 fairfax virginia with rt america wybe 35.4 philadelphia pennsylvania with rt america 4 wnvt 30.8 goldvein virginia with rt america k31ct 31.5 cortez colorado with rt america wvdo ld 10.1 carolina puerto rico with rt en espa ol wnte ld 36.1 mayaguez puerto rico with rt en espa ol satellite bell tv canada channel 724 viasat channel unallocated airtel digital tv india channel 322 indovision indonesia channel 355 yes israel channel unallocated sky italia italy channel 531 cyfra poland channel 146 ntv plus russia channel unallocated freesat uk channel 206 sd hd with rt uk sky uk & ireland channel 512 sd hd channel 518 sd with rt uk sky new zealand channel 92 dish network u.s. nationwide channel 280 sd hd washington d.c. area channel 8084 sd hd with rt america globecast worldtv u.s. channel 462 with rt america international reliance digital tv india channel 461 cignal digital tv philippines channel unallocated canaldigitaal netherlands channel 90 dish tv india channel 738 videocon d2h india channel 363 foxtel australia channel 658 dstv south africa & selected african countries channel 407 tata sky india channel 641 cable available on certain u.s. cable systems check local listings available on select canadian cable systems check local listings verizon fios washington d.c. area channel 455 with rt america cox communications washington d.c. area channel 473 with rt america rcn cable washington d.c. area channel 33 with rt america destiny cable philippines channel 86 analog channel 221 digital starhub tv singapore channel 151 cablelink philippines channel tba cablem s mexico channel 290 ziggo netherlands channel 509 nos portuguese media company portugal channel 214 foxtel australia channel 658 bukidnon z5 cable philippines channel 16 macau cable tv macau channel 820 cable tv hong kong channel 67 iptv shaw exo tv canada channel 505 bell fibe tv canada channel 517 optik tv canada channel 573 eagle multimedia u.s. channel unallocated with rt america russian tvgroup u.s. channel unallocated with rt america singtel tv singapore channel 163 hd tpg telecom australia channel unallocated ptcl smart tv pakistan channel 102 open iptv serbia channel 547 vmedia canada channel 188 streaming media official live stream on air free available in english internet protocol television sling tv tvplayer watch live uk only rt originally russia today is a television network funded by the russian government . 5 6 it operates cable and satellite television channels directed to audiences outside of russia as well as providing internet content in various languages including russian . rt international based in moscow russia presents around the clock news bulletins documentaries talk shows debates sports news and cultural programmes about russia . 3 rt operates as a multilingual service with conventional channels in three languages the original english language channel was launched in 2005 the arabic language channel in 2007 and the spanish language channel in 2009 . rt america since 2010 7 and rt uk since 2014 offer some locally based content for those countries . rt is a brand of tv novosti an autonomous non profit organization founded by the russian news agency ria novosti on april 6 2005 . 1 8 during the economic crisis in december 2008 the russian government headed by prime minister vladimir putin included ano tv novosti in the list of core organizations of strategic importance of russia . 9 10 11 rt has frequently been called a propaganda outlet for the russian government 12 13 14 and its foreign policy 12 14 15 16 by news reporters 17 18 including former rt reporters . 19 20 21 rt has also been accused of spreading disinformation . 18 22 23 24 25 the united kingdom media regulator ofcom has repeatedly found rt to have breached rules on impartiality and of broadcasting materially misleading content . 26 27 28 rt states that it merely offers a russian perspective on global events . 3 contents 1 history 1.1 foundation 1.2 development and expansion 1.3 since 2012 2 organization 2.1 budget 2.2 network 2.3 ratings 3 programming 4 on air staff 5 guests 6 reception 6.1 programming 6.2 criticism 6.2.1 propaganda and related issues 6.2.1.1 treatment of putin and medvedev 6.2.1.2 anti americanism and anti westernism 6.2.1.3 airing conspiracy theories 6.2.1.4 israel palestine conflict 6.2.2 choice of guests 6.2.3 responses to rt s news coverage 7 professional awards 8 see also 9 notes 10 references 11 external links history edit foundation edit the creation of rt was a part of a larger public relations effort by the russian government that was intended to improve the image of russia abroad . 29 rt was conceived by former media minister mikhail lesin 30 and russian president vladimir putin s press spokesperson aleksei gromov . 31 at the time of rt s founding ria novosti director svetlana mironyuk stated unfortunately at the level of mass consciousness in the west russia is associated with three words communism snow and poverty and added we would like to present a more complete picture of life in our country . 30 it is registered as an autonomous nonprofit organization 32 33 funded by the federal budget of russia through the federal agency on press and mass communications of the russian federation . 34 35 in 2005 ria novosti helped establish ano tv novosti or autonomous non profit organization tv news to serve as the parent organization for the planned channel . ano tv novosti was registered on april 6 2005 . 1 ano tv novosti appointed sergey frolov as its ceo position ; 36 frolov stated regarding the channel s development a main problem in the beginning was that in our country we ve never broadcast english language television . when it began russia today had a certain lack of personnel it seems hard to find qualified journalists political scientists economists analysts with good english skills in moscow . 37 former president of russia dmitry medvedev visits rt offices with editor in chief margarita simonyan . the channel was launched as russia today on december 10 2005 . at its launch the channel employed 300 journalists including approximately 70 from outside russia . 29 russia today appointed margarita simonyan as its editor in chief who recruited foreign journalists as presenters and consultants . 30 simonyan stated that the channel s intent was to have a professional format akin to the bbc and euronews that would reflect russia s opinion of the world and present a more balanced picture of russia . 38 simonyan who was only 25 years old at the time of her hiring by the channel was a former kremlin pool reporter and had worked in journalism since she was 18 . she told the new york times that after the fall of the soviet union many new young journalists were hired resulting in a much younger pool of staffers than other news organizations . 39 journalist danny schechter who has appeared as a guest on rt 40 has stated that having been part of the launch staff at cnn he saw rt as another channel of young people who are inexperienced but very enthusiastic about what they are doing . 41 shortly after the channel was launched james painter wrote that rt and similar news channels such as france 24 and telesur saw themselves as counter hegemonic offering a differing vision and news content from that of western media like the cnn and the bbc . 42 development and expansion edit dmitry medvedev took part in the launch of rt documentary vladimir putin during a visit to the new rt broadcasting centre rt launched several new channels in ensuing years the arabic language channel rusiya al yaum in 2007 the spanish language channel rt actualidad in 2009 rt america which focuses on the united states in 2010 and the rt documentary channel in 2011 . 7 in august 2007 russia today became the first television channel to report live from the north pole with the report lasting five minutes and 41 seconds . an rt crew participated in the arktika 2007 russian polar expedition led by artur chilingarov on the akademik fyodorov icebreaker . 43 44 on december 31 2007 rt s broadcasts of new year s eve celebrations in moscow and saint petersburg were broadcast in the hours prior to the new year s eve event at new york city s times square . 44 rt drew particular attention worldwide for its coverage of the 2008 south ossetia war . 44 45 46 rt named georgia as the aggressor 46 against the separatist governments of south ossetia and abkhazia which were protected by russian troops . 47 rt saw this as the incident that showcased its newsgathering abilities to the world . 12 margarita simonyan stated we were the only ones among the english language media who were giving the other side of the story the south ossetian side of the story . 45 in 2009 russia today rebranded itself to simply the rt initials . 48 simonyan denied that the name change was an attempt to hide its russian origins stating the corporate logo was changed to attract more viewers and commenting who is interested in watching news from russia all day long 7 in early 2010 rt unveiled a highly controversial advertising campaign called question more which was created for the channel by britain based mccann erickson . 15 one of the advertisements featured as part of the campaign showed president of the united states barack obama morphing into iranian leader mahmoud ahmadinejad and asked who poses the greatest nuclear threat the ad was banned in american airports . another showed a western soldier merging into a taliban fighter and asks is terror only inflicted by terrorists 49 one of rt s 2010 billboard advertisements won the british awards for national newspaper advertising ad of the month . 50 rt is one of several international channels that have challenged the united states media which previously dominated global news coverage . 51 in 2010 walter isaacson chairman of the u.s. government s broadcasting board of governors which runs voice of america radio free europe and radio free asia called for more money to invest into the programs because we can t allow ourselves to be out communicated by our enemies mentioning specifically russia today iran s press tv and china s china central television cctv in the next sentence . he later explained he actually was referring to enemies in afghanistan not the nations he mentioned . 52 in 2011 secretary of state hillary clinton stated that the united states was losing the information war abroad to foreign channels like rt al jazeera and china central television 53 and that they are supplanting the voice of america . 54 55 since 2012 edit in early 2012 shortly after his appointment as the united states ambassador to russia michael mcfaul challenged margarita simonyan 56 on twitter regarding allegations from rt 57 that he sent alexei navalny to study at yale university . 56 57 according to rt mcfaul was referring to a comment in an article by political scientist igor panarin which rt had specified were the views of the author . 58 59 mcfaul then accepted an interview by sophie shevardnadze on rt on this and other issues and reasserted that the obama administration wanted a reset