Russian regulator protests to Google on RT YouTube restrictions

29 April 2021

Russian regulator protests to Google on RT YouTube restrictions

Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor says that it has written to Google demanding all restrictions on the YouTube channel of RT to be lifted.

The regulator says that YouTube has blocked a range of items from the site, and restricted RT’s ability to upload new videos.

The letter from Roskomnadzor notes that such actions by the YouTube video hosting administration violate the key principles of free dissemination of information, unhindered access to it and are an act of censorship against the Russian media.

The Russian regulator has demanded that all all restrictions be removed “as soon as possible,” as well as providing an explanation for the reasons for their introduction.

In its statement on the issue, Roskomnadzor says that according to Russian law, if Internet companies ignore warnings “about violations of the rights of Russians on the Internet, including censorship of the Russian media,” it has the power to impose “administrative fines” of up to one million roubles (about US$13,640). The regulator goes on to say that repeated refusals to comply with its requirements will result in a multiple increase in fines – up to three million roubles.

The RT YouTube channel, checked by the AIB on 29 April, shows no uploads have been made since 24 April 2021.

RFE/RL reaching loyal audience

6 January 2017

RFE/RL serves a measured audience of 27 million people a week in 23 nations and territories by video, social networks, mobile apps, websites, podcasts and radio – whatever media they use most. From its Prague headquarters and 18 news bureaus, it provides local news and information in 26 languages to the nations of the former Soviet Union, the Balkans, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, including a round-the-clock Russian-language television channel.

Through last September, RFE/RL recorded one billion page views on its websites, 300 million views on YouTube and 225 million engaged users on Facebook, plus many more visits and views on other social networks and apps.

“RFE/RL’s audience is highly loyal, making their way to us despite efforts by some governments to jam us on the internet and over the air, and even to directly intimidate viewers and listeners,” said Thomas Kent, president and CEO of RFE/RL (pictured). “They find us an indispensable source of news and investigative journalism, constantly adapting to the most modern platforms to reach them.”

RT reaches record four billion views on YouTube

27 October 2016

The total number of views on RT’s YouTube channels has exceeded four billion, making RT the leader among international TV news channels, including CNN and BBC.

In total, the aggregate number of views on RT’s channels is more than twice as many as that of CNN, three times as many as Euronews, and more than seven times as many as the BBC’s YouTube news channels combined.

VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CufWXj_o4o&feature=youtu.be

“The future of media is inextricably linked to the Internet. Once you fall behind in this field, it’s difficult to catch up. From the very beginning, RT has focused on developing its digital platforms, and this has been the key to our success,” noted RT Editor in Chief Margarita Simonyan.

“For many years now, RT has been the unrivalled leader on YouTube, the most popular video hosting platform in the world. Four billion views is a new milestone, and we are aiming to raise the bar even further,” said Kirill Karnovich-Valua, RT’s Head of Online Projects.

In 2007, RT became the first Russian TV channel to post video content on YouTube, as soon as the platform became available in Russia. In 2011, an RT clip was recognized as the most popular news video of the year on the platform. The following year, the Pew Research Center named RT the top news producer on YouTube. In 2013, RT became the first TV news channel in the world to hit one billion views on the portal.

In September 2016, RT took home seven Lovie Awards, the pan-European awards honoring online excellence. Last April, it received the People’s Voice Award at the prestigious Webby Awards, garnering user acclaim ahead of BBC News, ABC News, NBC Nightly News, and the New York Times.

(Source: RT press release)

Vietnam makes TV for the YouTube generation

6 September 2016

Vietnam makes TV for the YouTube generation

Vietnam’s TV channels are following the lead of many Western networks with investments to produce more shows on YouTube, with most of them targeting young Vietnamese viewers, according to reports in the local press.

Vinh Long Television, which has four channels in addition to a channel on YouTube launched in 2014, is concentrating on documentaries and entertainment programmes with some success. From September 2014 to the end of this year’s first quarter, its YouTube channel attracted more than 295 million viewers, according to POPs Worldwide, a leading digital company and multi-channel network in Vietnam. Last year, THVL won the 2015 POPS Awards for its YouTube channel, which attracted the highest number of viewers.

Its biggest competitor is Vietnam Television‘s VTCTube, which launched in 2013. It offers dozens of theatre and music programmes as well as films produced by TV stations. VTCTube now attracts more than 80 million viewers, in a country of around 90 million (although individual programmes show “views” in the low hundreds on YouTube).

Today, Vietnam’s young TV producers and technicians are travelling to Singapore and South Korea to improve their skills and understand other TV and online markets.

These moves into the modern online world marks a change from a few years ago when Vietnam tried to restrict access to the TV market to foreign channels. The government’s attempts were ultimately unsuccessful, following extensive lobbying the AIB, among other organisations.

France 24 now broadcasting live on YouTube

10 December 2014

French international news channel France 24 is now broadcast live 24/7 in three languages (English, French and Arabic) on YouTube, the n°1 online video platform.

This agreement allows France 24 to further facilitate accessibility to its three channels and allows all Internet users to watch them in high definition (720p – 16/9) on any type of device (PC, mobile phones, tablets).

With this new service all YouTube users can also comment and discuss in real time the channel’s programmes by using the chat module to the right of the screen.

In addition to this new non-stop broadcasting service, France 24 also occasionally broadcasts live events that bring together a community of Internet users at a given moment and then offers a replay of the entire programme once the live broadcast is over (70th anniversary of the Normandy landing, live speeches at the UN General Assembly, press conferences, etc.).

France 24 has been on YouTube ever since its launch in December 2006 (reports, debates, magazine replays), and has already notched up over 300 million video views and currently attracts around 6 million views a month.

Broadcasting France 24 on YouTube is part of France Médias Monde’s global strategy for a multi-platform, multilingual syndication of its channels, increasing accessibility to their content by building new bridges between their digital services.

France 24 is available live on YouTube on the following addresses:

In English: http://f24.my/YTliveEN

In French: http://f24.my/YTliveFR

In Arabic: http://f24.my/YTliveAR

(Source: France 24 press release)