MUMBAI: Last night at the Royal Television Society (RTS) Awards, CNN International was crowned News Channel of the Year for the second year running beating Sky News and the BBC News Channel, plus won the coveted Best News Coverage – International category for its outstanding reporting of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines beating ITN and BBC One.

The network’s coverage of news events such as the Westgate Mall siege in Nairobi, the struggle for power in Egypt, the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, the on-going crisis in Syria, and the rise of extremism in the former Soviet republic of Dagestan, won over the RTS jury.

Tony Maddox, Executive Vice President of CNN International, said: "To win News Channel of the Year for the second year running, against some strong submissions from our peers, is a very special honour. Our profession is being tested today more than ever before, but the bravery, determination, skill and fortitude of my colleagues around the world has been unwavering.

"Our coverage of Typhoon Haiyan was exemplary from start to finish. Our crews showed enormous bravery as well as great sensitivity on what was both a physically gruelling, emotionally draining, and very important assignment. I’m delighted that their efforts have been recognised here, and I couldn’t be more proud of their work.”

These two awards are the latest recognition of CNN International’s editorial strength. The channel was recently named Cable & Satellite Channel of the Year at the Asian Television Awards, and had a strong showing in the Emmys, FPA Awards, Peabody Awards and the Overseas Press Awards. CNN is also the number one international TV news channel according to all major media surveys across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific region and Latin America.