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RT UK, also known as Russia Today, was a
free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...
television news channel based in the United Kingdom. It was part of the RT network, a Russian state-controlled international
television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or multichannel video programming distributo ...
funded by the federal tax budget of the Russian government. The channel's head was Nikolay Bogachikhin. Launched in 2014, it ran live broadcasts for seven years and ceased broadcasting from London in July 2021. RT UK served as the home and production base of RT's UK-based programmes. The channel's studios were located in
Millbank Tower Millbank Tower is a high skyscraper in the City of Westminster at Millbank, by the River Thames in London. The tower was constructed in 1963, and has been home to many high-profile political organisations, including the Labour and Conservati ...
. Prior to its closure, the channel offered four hours of its own programming per day, airing RT UK News Monday through Friday at 7 pm, 8 pm, 9 pm and 10 pm. The RT UK News anchors were Bill Dod and Kate Partridge. RT International now broadcasts in its place, though the channel is still available online through RT's websites and social media. The UK media regulator
Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...
has repeatedly found RT to have breached its rules on impartiality and on one occasion found it had broadcast "materially misleading" content. On 18 March 2022, Ofcom cancelled RT's UK broadcasting licence "with immediate effect" after concluding the outlet was not "fit and proper" or a "responsible broadcaster".


Launch

RT UK was launched on 30 October 2014 and closed for TV broadcasting on 30 July 2021. The channel's coverage focused on the United Kingdom. RT presenter
Afshin Rattansi Afshin Rattansi (born 1968) is a British broadcaster, journalist and author who presents ''Going Underground'' broadcast around the world except in the UK and EU, on television stations including the RT network, formerly known as Russia Today. ...
stated that the channel's position was "to challenge dominant power structures in Britain by broadcasting live and original programming with a progressive UK focus", and it was "not subject to the metropolitan elite's London bias" since its "news will come from right across the country".
Richard Sambrook Richard Sambrook is a British journalist, academic and a former BBC executive. He is Emeritus Professor in the School of Journalism, Media and Culture at Cardiff University. For 30 years, until February 2010, he was a BBC journalist and later ...
, former director of global news at the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
and director of the Centre of Journalism at
Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...
was quoted as saying "It's a surprising move to focus resources on the UK. It's not a commercial proposition, therefore the main purpose must be to gain influence. It's about
soft power In politics (and particularly in international politics), soft power is the ability to co-opt rather than coerce (contrast hard power). In other words, soft power involves shaping the preferences of others through appeal and attraction. A defin ...
for
the Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (Ru ...
". In a pre-launch statement, RT correspondent Polly Boiko said "So much is made of how RT is funded. It's been cast as the
Big Bad Wolf The Big Bad Wolf is a fictional wolf appearing in several cautionary tales that include some of ''Grimms' Fairy Tales.'' Versions of this character have appeared in numerous works, and it has become a generic archetype of a menacing predatory a ...
of the news media landscape," and "I think many of us... see the launch of RT UK as an opportunity to shake off the accusations levelled at the channel".


Incidents


Relations with British regulators (2014–19)

Ahead of the launch of its UK-specific broadcasts in 2014, RT said that its advertisements promoting the channel had been rejected by ad agencies because it was felt they would violate UK laws on political advertising. The network posted versions of the adverts on billboards and its website with the word "redacted" on them in protest. The UK Advertising Standards Authority said it had not banned the ads or even received any complaint about them. The UK broadcast regulator
Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...
has repeatedly reprimanded the international version of RT for its failure to remain impartial. In July 2014, London-based RT International correspondent Sara Firth resigned, after five years with the channel, calling its coverage of the MH17 disaster, the "straw that broke the camel's back". Shortly after RT UK was launched, Ofcom said sanctions would be imposed if further breaches of the
broadcasting code The Broadcasting Code2017 is a code of practice issued by the Office of Communications (Ofcom) in the UK that requires standards of good conduct for broadcasters. This elaborates on the Communications Act 2003 section 319 and others, on duties of ...
occurred. In September 2015, Ofcom found RT in breach of the impartiality rules in its coverage of events in
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
and
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
. It also upheld the complaint by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
that allegations made in an episode of ''The Truthseeker'' that a BBC ''
Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...
'' film, '' Saving Syria's Children'', had faked parts of a report on a chemical weapon attack in Syria were "materially misleading". Another episode of ''The Truthseeker'', named "Genocide of Eastern Ukraine", stated that the Ukrainian government was deliberately bombing civilians, had murdered and tortured journalists, and had crucified babies. Ukrainian army forces were accused of "ethnic cleansing" and were compared to Nazis during World War Two. The only response to these allegations shown in the broadcast was a caption reading, "Kiev claims it is not committing genocide, denies casualty reports", which appeared on screen for six seconds. According to Ofcom, the broadcast had "little or no counterbalance or objectivity". A spokesperson for the media regulator said "Ofcom found that RT broadcast content that was either materially misleading or not duly impartial. These are significant failings and we are therefore requiring RT to broadcast two clear statements on our decision which correct these failures". In December 2018, Ofcom ruled that seven programmes broadcast by RT between 17 March and 26 April of that year, in the wake of the Salisbury nerve agent attacks, had breached the UK's impartiality rules. The BBC reported that RT was "extremely disappointed by Ofcom's conclusions". RT was fined £200,000 but kept its licence to broadcast in the UK.


Threatened closure of banking facilities

In October 2016, RT published a letter sent to "Russia Today TV UK Ltd" by NatWest bank informing the company that it intended to cease the banking facilities provided to the company. RT's editor in Moscow,
Margarita Simonyan Margarita Simonovna Simonyan (russian: link=no, Маргарита Симоновна Симоньян; born 6 April 1980) is a Russian journalist. She is the editor-in-chief of the Russian state-controlled media organisations RT (formerly R ...
, tweeted in Russian "They closed our accounts in Britain. All of them. 'Decision not to be discussed'. Long live freedom of speech!" Russian MPs, the foreign ministry, and human rights officials condemned the move. The
Russian embassy in London The Embassy of Russia in London is the diplomatic mission of Russia in the United Kingdom. The main building and Consular section is located at 5 and 6-7 Kensington Palace Gardens at the junction with Bayswater Road; the Ambassador's Residence ...
described the move as an "openly political decision". The British government, which owned the majority of shares in the group since the 2008 financial crisis, denied responsibility for the bank's actions. NatWest subsequently said that it had written to one of RT's suppliers, not to the station itself, and that it would review the decision. RT said the supplier provided all RT services in the UK. The decision by NatWest to end banking services was reversed in late January 2017.


Criticism of coverage (2016–2022)

Oliver Kamm Oliver Kamm (born 1963) is a British journalist and writer who is a leader writer and columnist for ''The Times''. Early life and career Kamm is the son of translator Anthea Bell and publisher Antony Kamm. Kamm is the grandson of Adrian Bell ...
wrote in ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' in October 2016: "For purportedly expert analysis of world events, RT turns to an assortment of racists,
neo-Nazis Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack ...
, UFO buffs, 9/11 conspiracy theorists and obscure fantasists. Admittedly it's also been commended for balance and fairness – by the
British National Party The British National Party (BNP) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and its leader is Adam Walker. A minor party, it has no elected representatives at any level of UK gover ...
". He continued: "This is not a normal news outlet but a conspiracy of fraudsters in the service of a murderous autocracy". In ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'',
Nick Cohen Nicholas Cohen (born 1961) is a British journalist, author and political commentator. He was a columnist for '' The Observer'' and a blogger for '' The Spectator''. Following accusations of sexual harassment, he left The Observer in 2022 and be ...
wrote in November 2014 that the channel "feeds the huge western audience that wants to believe that human rights are a sham and democracy a fix. Believe that and you will ask: what right have we to criticise Putin? At least he is honest in his way". In late February 2022, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a number of British journalists based in RT's offices in Moscow and at RT UK's offices in London resigned from the network in response to its coverage of the incident. Former First Minister of Scotland
Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond (; born 31 December 1954) is a Scottish politician and economist who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure on the Scottish nationalist movement, he has served as leader ...
suspended his RT talk show, ''
The Alex Salmond Show ''The Alex Salmond Show'' is a UK weekly political talk show hosted by former First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, which premiered on RT on 16 November 2017. The guests have included various political and public figures. The show airs e ...
'', on 24 February after receiving public criticism following the invasion. According to ''The Times'', four journalists "publicly announced their resignation, while others are said to have quietly left RT's London bureau".
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
banned access to all RT and Sputnik channels on the platform from Europe and Britain. On 2 March 2022, RT UK's SD Freeview channel 234 went off the air in the afternoon, with RT HD on Freeview channel 113 following an hour later at about 4:45pm. Both channels were replaced by a placeholder message saying that the service was unavailable. On the same day,
Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...
removed channel 511, which hosted RT, due to the ongoing situation in Ukraine.


Ofcom revocation of licence (2022)

In 2022, following the
invasion of Ukraine The territory of present-day Ukraine has been Invasion, invaded or Military occupation, occupied a number of times throughout History of Ukraine, its history. List See also *List of invasions *List of wars involving Ukraine References

...
by Russia, Ofcom looked into whether RT had breached impartiality rules regarding its coverage of the conflict. Although the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
proposed banning the channel across all its member states, this was opposed by
Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who briefly served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth day in office, she stepped down ...
, then British foreign secretary, who feared it may lead to an official ban on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
and other British news outlets in Russia. Ofcom revoked RT's UK broadcasting licence "with immediate effect" on 18 March 2022 after concluding the outlet was not "fit and proper" or a "responsible broadcaster". In particular, Ofcom said that Russian laws against disinformation concerning the Russian invasion of Ukraine meant that RT could not report the invasion responsibly. At the time of the ruling, Ofcom had 29 open investigations regarding RT's coverage of the invasion. The ruling only concerned the right to broadcast in the UK; RT's ability to broadcast online was not affected.
Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty, Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of th ...
spokesperson
Dmitry Peskov Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov ( rus, Дмитрий Сергеевич Песков, p=pʲɪˈskof; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat and the press secretary for Russian President Vladimir Putin.anti-Russian Anti-Russian sentiment, commonly referred to as Russophobia, is dislike or fear of Russia, the Russians, Russian culture. or Russian policy. The Collins English Dictionary defines it as intense and often irrational hatred of Russia. It is the ...
madness that is happening in America and Europe".


RT UK programming

* ''
Going Underground "Going Underground" is a single by The Jam, released in March 1980. It debuted at number one in the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks at the top. "Going Underground" was the first of four number one singles the band were to achieve throug ...
'' (2014–2022) with
Afshin Rattansi Afshin Rattansi (born 1968) is a British broadcaster, journalist and author who presents ''Going Underground'' broadcast around the world except in the UK and EU, on television stations including the RT network, formerly known as Russia Today. ...
* ''
In the Now ''In the Now'' is the second solo album by British singer-songwriter Barry Gibb, released on 7 October 2016 by Columbia Records. Although his second solo album (since 1984's '' Now Voyager''), it is the first of all new material since the Bee G ...
'' (
Anissa Naouai Anissa Naouai (born August 17, 1982) is an American journalist and former television presenter. She is the CEO of Maffick Media, a Berlin-based digital media company with Russian links, as of February 2019. Early life Naouai was born in New York ...
) *''
Keiser Report ''The Keiser Report'' was a financial news and analysis show on RT UK and the Russian state RT network, hosted by Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert, a married couple. It ran from September 2009 to February 2022, with three new shows every week. He ...
'' (2009–2022) with
Max Keiser Timothy Maxwell "Max" Keiser (born January 23, 1960) is an American broadcaster and film maker. He hosted ''Keiser Report'', a financial program broadcast on RT that featured heterodox economics theories. Until November 2012, Keiser anchored '' ...
*''
Sam Delaney's News Thing ''Sam Delaney's News Thing'' is television programme produced by RT UK and presented by British journalist and broadcaster Sam Delaney, that aired every Saturday night from November 2015 until June 2018. Notable guest appearances included Ke ...
'' (2015–2018) with Sam Delaney *'' Sputnik'' (2013–2022) with
George Galloway George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a British politician, broadcaster, and writer who is currently leader of the Workers Party of Britain, serving since 2019. Between 1987 and 2010, and then between 2012 and 2015, Galloway was a Member o ...
*''
The Alex Salmond Show ''The Alex Salmond Show'' is a UK weekly political talk show hosted by former First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, which premiered on RT on 16 November 2017. The guests have included various political and public figures. The show airs e ...
'' (2017–2022) with
Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond (; born 31 December 1954) is a Scottish politician and economist who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure on the Scottish nationalist movement, he has served as leader ...
* ''
Venture Capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...
'' (Katie Pilbeam)


RT programmes on RT UK

* '' Boom Bust'' (
Ameera David Ameera may refer to: *, a US Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919 *Ameera Ali Aziz, a character on the television drama ''As the World Turns'' *Ameera al-Taweel (born 1983), Saudi Arabian princess and philanthropist See also

*Am ...
,
Bianca Facchinei Bianca is a feminine given name. It means "white" and is an Italian language, Italian cognate of Blanche (given name), Blanche. Variants * Blanche (given name), Blanche: French * Bianca: Italian language, Italian * Bianka (Polish language, Po ...
, & Edward Harrison) from RT America * ''
CrossTalk In electronics, crosstalk is any phenomenon by which a signal transmitted on one circuit or channel of a transmission system creates an undesired effect in another circuit or channel. Crosstalk is usually caused by undesired capacitive, induc ...
'' and ''On the Money'' (
Peter Lavelle Peter John Lavelle (born February 28, 1961) is an American journalist and host of ''CrossTalk'', a political talk show on the English-language TV channel RT, which is controlled by the Russian state. Lavelle, originally from Beverly Hills, Calif ...
) from RT International * ''
Larry King Now ''Larry King Now'' was a talk show hosted by Larry King, available on Ora TV, Hulu and RT America. Launched on July 17, 2012, the series featured interviews with newsmakers, celebrities, world leaders, and Internet stars. The show was similar to ...
'' (
Larry King Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American television and radio host, whose awards included 2 Peabodys The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program ...
) from RT America * '' Politicking'' (Larry King) from RT America * '' Redacted Tonight'' ( Lee Camp) from RT America * ''
Watching the Hawks Watching may refer to: Media *Watching (TV series), ''Watching'' (TV series), a British television show broadcast from 1987 to 1993 *Watching (Thompson Twins song), "Watching" (Thompson Twins song), a 1983 Thompson Twins song from the album, ''Q ...
'' (
Tyrel Ventura Tyrel may refer to: People * Tyrel Dodson (born 1998), American football player *Tyrel Griffith (born 1985), Canadian curler *Tyrel Jackson Williams (born 1997), American actor * Tyrel Lomax (born 1996), Australian professional rugby union player * ...
,
Sean Stone Sean Christopher Stone (born December 29, 1984) is an American actor, filmmaker, and television host. Stone hosted a show on the Russian state-funded network RT America until the network was shut down in 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine ...
, & Tabetha Wallace) from RT America * '' SophieCo'' (
Sophie Shevardnadze Sophie (Sophiko) Paatovna Shevardnadze (Russian: София (Софико) Паатовна Шеварднадзе; Georgian: სოფო შევარდნაძე, born 23 September 1978) is a Georgian/Russian journalist, presenter, auth ...
) from RT International * ''
The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' (
Thom Hartmann Thomas Carl Hartmann (born May 7, 1951) is an American radio personality, author, former psychotherapist, businessman, and progressive political commentator. Hartmann has been hosting a nationally syndicated radio show, ''The Thom Hartmann Pr ...
) from RT America * '' Worlds Apart'' (
Oksana Boyko Oksana or Oxana (, ; be, Аксана), sometimes transliterated as Aksana, is a female given name of Ukrainians, Ukrainian origin. The closest equivalent is the Russians, Russian name ''Xenia (name), Kseniya'' (russian: Ксения, links=no), ...
) from RT International


On air staff

;News anchors *Bill Dod (2014–2021) *Kate Partridge ;Correspondents *Laura Smith (2015–2018) * Polly Boiko (2015–) *Anastasia Churkina


Notes


References


External links


RT.com
{{Freeview RT (TV network) Television networks in Russia English-language television stations in the United Kingdom 24-hour television news channels in the United Kingdom Defunct British television channels Television channels and stations established in 2014 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2022 2014 establishments in the United Kingdom 2022 disestablishments in the United Kingdom