diff --git a/test/test_playlists.py b/test/test_playlists.py
index b1e38e7e9e..4af38632e7 100644
--- a/test/test_playlists.py
+++ b/test/test_playlists.py
@@ -309,6 +309,8 @@ def test_InstagramUser(self):
             'thumbnail': 're:^https?://.*\.jpg',
             'uploader': 'Porsche',
             'uploader_id': 'porsche',
+            'timestamp': 1387486713,
+            'upload_date': '20131219',
         }
         expect_info_dict(self, EXPECTED, test_video)
 
diff --git a/test/test_utils.py b/test/test_utils.py
index 7ee74e36c0..e920d661f6 100644
--- a/test/test_utils.py
+++ b/test/test_utils.py
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
     url_basename,
     urlencode_postdata,
     xpath_with_ns,
+    parse_iso8601,
 )
 
 if sys.version_info < (3, 0):
@@ -266,5 +267,10 @@ def test_urlencode_postdata(self):
         data = urlencode_postdata({'username': 'foo@bar.com', 'password': '1234'})
         self.assertTrue(isinstance(data, bytes))
 
+    def test_parse_iso8601(self):
+        self.assertEqual(parse_iso8601('2014-03-23T23:04:26+0100'), 1395612266)
+        self.assertEqual(parse_iso8601('2014-03-23T22:04:26+0000'), 1395612266)
+        self.assertEqual(parse_iso8601('2014-03-23T22:04:26Z'), 1395612266)
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     unittest.main()
diff --git a/youtube_dl/extractor/__init__.py b/youtube_dl/extractor/__init__.py
index 3e728e8760..245860140b 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/extractor/__init__.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/extractor/__init__.py
@@ -195,6 +195,7 @@
 from .rottentomatoes import RottenTomatoesIE
 from .roxwel import RoxwelIE
 from .rtlnow import RTLnowIE
+from .rts import RTSIE
 from .rutube import (
     RutubeIE,
     RutubeChannelIE,
diff --git a/youtube_dl/extractor/instagram.py b/youtube_dl/extractor/instagram.py
index 994f0e4aef..b5372bf7a2 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/extractor/instagram.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/extractor/instagram.py
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ def _real_extract(self, url):
                     'uploader': user.get('full_name'),
                     'uploader_id': user.get('username'),
                     'like_count': like_count,
-                    'upload_timestamp': int_or_none(it.get('created_time')),
+                    'timestamp': int_or_none(it.get('created_time')),
                 })
 
             if not page['items']:
diff --git a/youtube_dl/utils.py b/youtube_dl/utils.py
index 8b359cb77f..68d590ba25 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/utils.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/utils.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
+import calendar
 import contextlib
 import ctypes
 import datetime
@@ -501,13 +502,13 @@ def orderedSet(iterable):
             res.append(el)
     return res
 
-def unescapeHTML(s):
-    """
-    @param s a string
-    """
-    assert type(s) == type(u'')
 
-    result = re.sub(u'(?u)&(.+?);', htmlentity_transform, s)
+def unescapeHTML(s):
+    if s is None:
+        return None
+    assert type(s) == compat_str
+
+    result = re.sub(r'(?u)&(.+?);', htmlentity_transform, s)
     return result
 
 
@@ -761,6 +762,31 @@ def http_response(self, req, resp):
     https_response = http_response
 
 
+def parse_iso8601(date_str):
+    """ Return a UNIX timestamp from the given date """
+
+    if date_str is None:
+        return None
+
+    m = re.search(
+        r'Z$| ?(?P<sign>\+|-)(?P<hours>[0-9]{2}):?(?P<minutes>[0-9]{2})$',
+        date_str)
+    if not m:
+        timezone = datetime.timedelta()
+    else:
+        date_str = date_str[:-len(m.group(0))]
+        if not m.group('sign'):
+            timezone = datetime.timedelta()
+        else:
+            sign = 1 if m.group('sign') == '+' else -1
+            timezone = datetime.timedelta(
+                hours=sign * int(m.group('hours')),
+                minutes=sign * int(m.group('minutes')))
+
+    dt = datetime.datetime.strptime(date_str, '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S') - timezone
+    return calendar.timegm(dt.timetuple())
+
+
 def unified_strdate(date_str):
     """Return a string with the date in the format YYYYMMDD"""