Russia Today and Rusiya Al-Yaum join YahLive’s HD bouquet

Editor | 02-10-2012

Two renowned international news channels, RT’s Rusiya Al-Yaum and Russia Today, have joined the exclusive High Definition (HD) television bouquet offered by YahLive, the UAE-based direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television service provider.

The addition of Rusiya Al-Yaum and Russia Today channels, broadcasting in Arabic and English respectively, means that YahLive, with over 40 HD channels, is continuing to build the HD Hotspot for the Middle East and North Africa at 52.5 degrees East.

Available free-to-air (FTA), both Rusiya Al-Yaum and Russia Today broadcast 24/7 to more than 550 million people in over 100 countries around the world. The channels are based in Moscow with a network of bureaus all over the globe, including New York, London, Miami, Los Angeles, Paris, Dubai, Beirut, Baghdad, Cairo and Delhi, and another TV studio in Washington, DC. RT is the only Russian TV channel to be nominated twice for the International Emmy Award in the News category.

Russia Today is the flagship news channel of the RT network and covers major political, economic and cultural issues of our time, with supporting analysis and documentaries, for viewers wishing to question more. Rusiya Al-Yaum, Russia's first Arabic news channel, has a rolling 24-hour schedule of political, economic, cultural and sports stories supplemented with movies, documentaries and feature broadcasts.

Mohamed Youssif, YahLive’s CEO, said: “The addition of these two acclaimed channels further strengthens the position of YahLive as the hotspot for High Definition television in the region. We’re selecting channel partners based on the quality of their programming and the multi-cultural mix of our audience across the region. For example, Russia Today is the second most-watched foreign news channel in the United States.

“High Definition is the future of television and, because we have the capacity and engineering infrastructure, YahLive can offer the future today. The range of channels available on the platform also means that there is something for everyone."

Margarita Simonyan, RT’s editor in chief, added: “We are delighted to extend our reach across the Middle East and North Africa with YahLive. RT’s viewers in the region are already dedicated and engaged, and we’re excited that now we can further enrich their viewing experience by delivering our best programming in HD, bringing the intensity of the frontline to their living rooms.”

YahLive has benefited from the shared knowledge and experience of the global satellite operator SES. Using SES’s extensive knowledge of HD TV, YahLive has developed a high-quality, robust and secure HD TV standard for its services in the region. SES operates 44 direct-to-home (DTH) platforms across the globe, carrying more than 5,200 TV channels, of which more than 1,300 are in HD.

YahLive is a joint venture company with Yahsat, the United Arab Emirates-based satellite communications company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mubadala Development Company, and the global satellite operator SES.