Moscow – RT, the global TV news network, has become a pioneer of 360-degree video format commercialisation by securing licensing agreements for VR content with organisations from across 20 countries. The deals followed an RT showcase in which it demonstrated expertise in integrating panoramic videos into documentary features at MIPTV 2017, one of the world’s largest annual content markets. With over 100 current titles, RT presented one of the world’s largest 360 VR original content libraries at the MIPTV market.

RT also hosted a VR session Integration of 360 Video: Pioneering a New Method of Storytelling showcasing the network’s documentary film Project Duterte to demonstrate how 360 segments could be integrated into traditional filmmaking done in the flat format. Project Duterte discusses the controversial drug war waged by President Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines. RT correspondent and author of Project Duterte, Marina Kosareva, who managed to secure an exclusive interview with the President of the Philippines during the making of the film, spoke at the RT showcase alongside Chizhikov.

Visitors of the MIPTV 2017 virtual reality pavilion also had a chance to view firsthand the Space 360 project, a team effort by RT, the Roscosmos State Corporation, and Energia Rocket and Space Corporation that brought audiences the first-ever panoramic view of planet Earth as seen from space in November 2016.

During the market, RT was able to successfully license its 360 VR content to 20 organisations from different countries including the UK, South Korea, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia, marking the growth of 360 VR as an essential part of the global content distribution business. RT was among the first global news media outlets to adopt 360 technology for news production.