MUMBAI: Russia Today (RT), the global international news network, has switched all of its English-language news broadcasting to High Definition (HD) format, effective 16 December.

The switch to HD was enabled by RT‘s move of its studios and headquarters offices to a brand new facility in Moscow, the news broadcaster said in a statement.

The HD broadcasting launch marks another important achievement by RT, while such delivery is not yet offered by many other major international news channels.

"We are incredibly proud of everything we have accomplished in just seven short years. The switch to HD is just the next step as we continue to grow and expand. The upgraded capabilities of our new, technologically sophisticated facility allow us to stay ahead of the competition," RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan said.

When RT first launched its 24-7 news broadcast in December of 2005, it employed some 300 journalists and consisted of just one TV channel, airing in English.

Today the network boasts the staff of more than 2000 professionals, and its five channels broadcast in English, Arabic and Spanish, reaching 550 million people in more than 100 countries around the globe.

In 2012, RT became the first Russian TV channel ever to garner a second nomination for the prestigious International Emmy award for its news coverage.