Radio Sputnik Going Off Air In U-S

Radio stations in at least two markets will be dropping their affiliation with Russia-backed programming distributor Sputnik by the end of the week, The Desk has learned.

The stations affected are two in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and three others in Kansas City, which have offered programs produced and distributed by Sputnik through time-brokerage agreements for a few years.

Sputnik has not commented publicly on the matter, but one source familiar with the decision to wind down the network says it was directly influenced by the U.S. State Department’s imposition of new sanctions on Russia-backed broadcast outlets last month.

Then, officials with the State Department accused the Russian government of utilizing television broadcaster RT (formerly Russia Today) to facilitate online fundraisers that helped the Russian military procure weapons, body armor and other items for its ongoing conflict in Ukraine. RT and Sputnik are owned by the Russian government.

While Sputnik was not specifically named by the State Department, the sanctions nonetheless applied to the broadcaster’s parent company, which made it difficult to continue leasing time on Washington and Kansas City radio stations where its programming was heard, the source said.

 In Kansas City, Sputnik programming was heard on KCXL (1140 AM, 102.9 FM), which set aside three hours in the evening for the network. The rest of the day, KCXL airs religious shows, though the schedule also includes a handful of conspiracy theory-related programming, including the far-right program “Tru News.”