CNN veteran Larry King to host Russia Today show

CNN veteran Larry King will host a new show on Kremlin-funded television station Russia Today next month, RT said. 

The English-language station, beamed to 630 million viewers worldwide, said it would launch Politics with Larry King next month. The show will be produced by Ora TV, an online broadcaster founded by King and Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim last year, and recorded in RT America's Washington studio and Ora TV's Los Angeles studio.

The English-language station, beamed to 630 million viewers worldwide, said it would launch Politics with Larry King next month. The show will be produced by Ora TV, an online broadcaster founded by King and Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim last year, and recorded in RT America's Washington studio and Ora TV's Los Angeles studio.

RT said it also signed a deal to air the online talk show Larry King Now, which has been hosted by web broadcasters Hulu.com and Ora.tv since last July. The United States branch will be the exclusive broadcaster for both shows, it said.

"Whether a president or an activist or a rock star was sitting across from him, Larry King never shied away from asking the tough questions, which makes him a terrific fit for our network," said RT's editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan.

Russia Today - considered a Kremlin exercise in image enhancement by critics - received 11 billion roubles (HK$2.7 billion) from the state this year. It signed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange last year to host a talk show.

King, 79, ended a 25-year run as the host of Larry King Live on CNN in 2010. He had interviewed Russian President Vladimir Putin several times.

RT also made headlines in 2011 when US airports refused to put up one of its controversial advertisements. The billboards comparing US President Barack Obama and Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with a tagline asking, "Who poses the greater nuclear threat?" did appear at airports across Europe.