Explaining Donald Trump interview that aired on Russian TV
The internet is abuzz Friday with stories about Donald Trump’s interview with Larry King that ran on a Russian government-owned TV network.
Trump on Thursday called into PoliticKING, King’s twice-weekly show produced and distributed by Ora TV.
RT America (RTA), the Russian-owned TV network that aired the interview, has a syndication agreement with Ora TV. Ora TV produces King’s show, sells the content and posts King’s shows on its website. Larry King is a part owner in, and an employee of - Ora Media, LLC., and neither he nor his producers are employed by RT America.
The suggestion that Trump did an interview with a network owned by the Russian government is untrue.
“RT America is one of several dozen companies who license these and other Ora programs for distribution around the world,” said Dana Steere, a spokeswoman for Ora TV. Its other clients include Hulu, Daily Motion and I Heart Radio.
RT America holds the exclusive U.S. broadcast rights for King’s program which is also carried on the websites of Hulu, RT and Ora, according to a story on its website in 2013.
The interview was arranged by producers at Ora TV who had complete editorial control, Steere said. RTA aired the program in full, as it was delivered by Ora TV.
“Mr. Trump recorded a short interview with Larry King for his podcast as a favor to Mr. King. What Larry King does with the interview content is up to him, we have nothing to do with it,” said Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign aide.