RT America, the Kremlin-funded network, will lay off most of its staff and cease its productions.
CNN reports:
The news would mean an effective end to RT America. The network, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s main mouthpieces in the US, was dropped earlier this week by DirecTV, dealing a major financial blow to it. The satellite carrier was one of the two major television providers in the US to carry the network. [Dish was the other.]
Roku, a company that sells hardware which allows users to stream content through the internet, also said that it had banished RT America from its platform.
“Apple and Google both banned apps for RT and Sputnik News in their app stores. Microsoft, Twitter, Facebook and others have limited the distribution of Russian state media and their ability to sell ads,” reports Axios.
The Wall Street Journal adds:
Holland Cooke, who was a host on the network, wrote in a column for an industry trade publication that some RT employees began bailing from the broadcaster last week.
“In an all-hands meeting Thursday at noon, management spared remaining RT-ers the dilemma,” he wrote. “We’ve been canceled, by cable/satellite/online distribution platforms.”
Among the recent defectors from RT is comedian Dennis Miller. Star Trek star William Shatner also has a show that aired on the network, but he recently expressed his “total sympathy” for Ukraine.
The Washington Post provides key context:
RT — originally standing for “Russia Today” — was launched by Vladimir Putin in 2005 as his answer to global media networks like CNN, with outlets in several Western nations, including the United States, sharing the Kremlin’s perspective on world events.
In the United States, RT America has lately covered Russia’s bloody invasion of Ukraine as a minor incursion intended for defensive purposes, drawing increasingly loud criticism.