[Satellite News 09-14-09] Russia Today, the Russian free-to-air news channel, is determined to extend the reach of its channel across as many different platforms as possible. In order to help it achieve this ambition, the channel has teamed up with GlobeCast as it bids to bring its channel to more eyeballs across the world.
    “Asia will probably be our next main development area, with a special emphasis put on India,” Alexey Nikolov, deputy editor-in-chief, Russia Today Channel, said. “It is a vast market, of course, but also a highly competitive one. We can currently reach an audience of 20 million there. That is a lot of people compared to Europe, yet it is only a fraction of the entire Indian population, so there is still a huge amount of work to be done.”
     Russia Today also hopes to make more of an impression in North America, particularly Canada. “In the Western hemisphere, we expect to continue broadening our reach in the U.S. market and hope to start broadcasting in Canada. That is an interesting market, with a set of rules and procedures which we, quite honestly, initially had some difficulties understanding fully. I hope we are past that stage by now. We are in the process of negotiating with a few local operators, and seem to understand each other quite well,” Nikolov said.
     Russia Today is heavily reliant on GlobeCast to come up with a winning strategy in terms of getting access to more platforms across the world. “GlobeCast has been our partner in our global distribution plans for the last three years. They provide us with technical facilities to carry and distribute our channels in in Europe, the United States, Latin America and Asia. More recently, GlobeCast has successfully arranged services from the last mile solution providers, be it DTH, digital cable, IPTV.”
     Darby Sanchez, CEO, GlobeCast Asia, explained how the company is helping Russia Today in Asia. “In Asia, they have said to us, ‘Can you help us get licenses in Asian countries?’ We have got them licenses in countries such as India and a few other countries. They then said, ‘Can you help us gain carriage?’ So we have negotiated on their behalf. Subsequently, they asked can you get in four- and five-star hotels, and we helped them with that. That is an example of complementary services” that we can offer them.
     Despite a global economic downturn, Nikolov believes Russia Today is well-placed to ride the economic storm. “In our business philosophy, TV signal distribution is based on long-term planning and long-term deals. Eventually, it all boils down to mutual trust, which is extremely important in this business. Obviously, from time to time, you add a piece here or cut a piece there, but overall, if you have a strategy that’s well-thought out, you’ll find yourself pretty stable, because you will have had your risks spread over time.”