Moscow-based news network RT International’s Arabic-language news channel among the top three most watched news channels in many Mena states, according to the channel.

RT Arabic is watched by over 6.7 million viewers every day in Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE and Iraq, said a statement.

In total, 18 per cent of all residents in these six countries have watched RT at least once, making up 18.2 million people. Approximately 11.5 million - or 11 per cent - of those are estimated to have watched the channel during the previous month, which puts RT ahead of Deutsche Welle Arabic, CCTV Arabic, France 24 Arabic, Al Alam News, and Sky News Arabia, it added.

Among the surveyed countries, RT demonstrated the best performance in Iraq: its daily viewership there makes up about 44 per cent of the country's population. RT is also ahead of BBC Arabic, Sky News, France 24, Deutsche Welle, CCTV, Al Hurra and Al Alam News, it claimed.

RT's audience in the country is also the most loyal compared to all competing channels: 98 per cent of weekly viewers watch the channel daily, vs 93 per cent of Al Arabiya; 85 per cent of Al Jazeera; 66 per cent for Al Hurra and 64 per cent for BBC Arabic viewers. Remarkably, of all Iraqis who have ever watched RT, 100 per cent watched it over the past month, it said.

RT also ranks number one in terms of viewer trust. Only 3 per cent of those, who are aware of the channel, but do not watch it, cited mistrust of RT's news reports as a reason for not watching the channel.

According to the study, 30 per cent of RT Arabic's monthly audience in Egypt like the channel for its ‘relevant and reliable news reports’, while 20 per cent in the UAE and 14 per cent in Saudi Arabia like it for its ‘alternative opinions’, and being ‘distinct from other networks’.

Another remarkable statistic is that 59 per cent of RT Arabic's audience watch it for more than an hour a day on weekdays, while 38 per cent of its viewers watch the channel for more than an hour a day on weekends. RT is similarly ahead of all its competitors in the region by its daily-to-weekly viewership conversion ratio: 74 per cent percent of RT's weekly audience watch the channel over last one day. - TradeArabia News Service