MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th December, 2021) RT has launched a 24-hour news service known as 'RT DE' in German that will broadcast live news, talk shows and documentaries from studios in Moscow and Berlin.
"No other country in the world has opposed us and keeps on fighting us as strongly as Germany. But our German audience has been very grateful, as evidenced by the RT DE views on the website and on social networks, which we managed to achieve without launching the tv channel. We will do everything to ensure that our German audience is not disappointed," Margarita Simonyan, Sputnik and RT Editor-in-Chief, told RT.
RT DE will broadcast everywhere in Europe, including countries with large German-speaking audiences, such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The channel will air analytical program Fasbenders Woche hosted by German journalist Thomas Fasbender, culinary and political show Kartoffelmus hosted by RT DE reporter Zukaina Grunow, as well as other talk shows and documentaries.
German media manager, producer and writer Oliver Brendel joined the RT DE team ahead of the launch.
RT in German was launched in 2014 online and on social media. Currently, RT DE is number one among German-language media by Facebook interactions over the past 12 months, bypassing Bild, Spiegel, ZDF, Tagesschau, according to Crowdtangle.
The launch of RT DE has been surrounded by controversy in the European Union, with German media and politicians accusing the broadcaster of manipulations with facts targeting Germans of Russian origin. In August 2021, RT DE was refused a broadcasting license in Luxembourg after reportedly receiving a recommendation from the German authorities. In September, YouTube removed two RT DE channels without the right of recovery for alleged "violations of community rules."
