MOSCOW, JANUARY 29, 2020 — RT is the #1 most-watched TV news network on YouTube, with a record-setting 10 billion views as well as more than 16 million subscribers. The total number of views from across RT’s channels on YouTube has put the network ahead of all the news channels of the BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, Euronews, Fox News and others.
Some of the most viral RT video content over the last year has been the network’s coverage of the Gilets Jaunes protests in France. RT journalists have reported on the ‘yellow vest’ movement since the first day of protests, often streaming live from the center of the clashes between protestors and police.
In 2019, RT’s video news agency RUPTLY was the only outlet to capture exclusive footage of Julian Assange’s arrest as the WikiLeaks founder was evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy and taken by the London police. RUPTLY’s was the only crew on site, effectively providing thousands of news outlets and media platforms around the world with the breaking news footage, including the BBC, CNN, the Telegraph and the Guardian.
RT and RUPTLY also delivered live coverage of the Notre Dame fire in Paris and were the first to release drone footage of the visible damage to the iconic cathedral after the incident.
In 2007, RT was the first Russian TV network to begin posting its content on YouTube, and in 2013 it became the world’s first news network to reach one billion views. “To develop such a great relationship that you have people coming back and consuming more and more, and consuming to a number like one billion — is simply amazing,” said the then-Google VP and Head of Content for YouTube Robert Kyncl.
RT is a global, round-the-clock news network of eight TV channels, broadcasting news, current affairs, and documentaries, with digital platforms in six languages and the RUPTLY video news agency. According to a 2017 survey on TV news consumption by Ipsos, a leading audience research firm, RT has a total weekly audience of 100 million viewers in 47 of the 100+ countries where RT broadcasts are available. RT is the only Russian TV channel to be a seven-time Emmy finalist.