07/06-07   -   Press releases

Russian news channel Russia Today now available free to air in the Nordic countries

Everyone interested in developments in Russia and in international news from a Russian perspective now has the opportunity to keep up to date. From 31 May the Russian news channel Russia Today is broadcast via the Sirius satellite system to viewers in the Nordic and Baltic countries.

Russia Today is broadcast free to air, i.e. unencrypted, so there is no need for a smart card to be able to receive the channel. A digital satellite receiver and a dish directed at Sirius at 5 degrees east is all it takes. Russia Today will be available on the Viasat EPG (Electronic Programme Guide). The broadcasts will be in English and are aimed at an international audience.

“Russia Today is happy to have signed this contract for broadcasts via Sirius. Through this agreement we will be able to get closer to viewers in the Nordic and Baltic countries and in northern Europe, which will strengthen our global coverage," says Sergey Maksimov, Marketing Director of ANO “TV-NOVOSTI", the TV company behind Russia Today.

CNN and BBC World are already available via Sirius. These channels will now be supplemented by Russia Today, at a time when interest in developments in Russia is at a peak.

“It feels good to be able to offer viewers in all the Nordic countries a news channel that comes directly from Russia. The country has been given a lot of attention in the media and it is interesting to get the Russian point of view on everything happening inside – and outside – Russia," says Bengt Lindholm, General Manager of SES SIRIUS Ukraine rep office in Kiev.

Russia Today was launched in 2005 and broadcasts 24 hours a day. It reaches millions of viewers in more than 100 countries worldwide. Through the agreement with Sirius the channel will be available to viewers in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Coverage includes business, culture, sport and science and focuses on Russia’s role in the international economy.

Russia Today employs more than 700 professionals and its own correspondents report from the main regions of Russia, the countries of the former Soviet Union, and from Europe, the US and the Middle East. This presence will be expanded to other regions of the world.