The English language satellite TV news channel Russia Today has begun airing on YouTube. Launched in December 2005 at a cost of $30 million (€22.3 million), the service is backed by TV-Novosti, founded by the news and information agency RAI-Novosti, and can already be viewed over the Internet. It is the first Russian channel to appear as a branded service on YouTube and has its programming updated on a daily basis. At this stage it remains unclear whether Russia Today will produce any content specifically for YouTube. Last month TV-Novosti launched an Arabic service.
