Russia's RT television network is going off the air in the Washington, D.C. area, one of the channel's most coveted markets in the United States.

The Kremlin-backed English language news channel will still be available via satellite, but two Washington-area stations that carry it are set to suspend operations at midnight Saturday, prompting cable operators to drop the channel.

MHz Networks, a Virginia-based distributor of international programming in the United States that broadcast RT and other foreign news channels on the two stations, said it was ending distribution in the wake of the station operator's decision to auction off their licenses.

As a result, Washington-area cable operators will drop them.

俄羅斯的RT電視網將停止在華盛頓地區播出。華盛頓地區是這家俄羅斯電視臺在美國最注重的市場之一。

這家由克林姆林宮支持的英語電視頻道將繼續通過衛星播放，但是華盛頓地區兩家傳送電視信號的基站將于星期六午夜停止運營，電纜電視運營商因而將不再播出這家俄羅斯電視臺的節目。

總部在維吉尼亞州的MHz網絡公司通過兩個基站在美國傳送包括RT電視臺在內的外國資訊電視頻道。該公司說，基站運營商決定拍賣他們的許可證，所以將不再傳送這些電視頻道。

華盛頓地區的電纜電視公司稱因此將停播這些外國電視節目。