Larry King Finds a Home on Hulu

Larry King’s new interview program on the Internet, announced earlier this year, now has a home on Hulu.

The video streaming Web site announced on Tuesday morning that the program, called “Larry King Now,” was premiering right away — this week, to be exact. Mr. King’s interview with Seth MacFarlane, his first guest, is now on the site. Interviews with Meghan McCain and Matthew McConaughey will be streamed later this week.

The interview program with Mr. King is part of a gradual expansion of the lineup of on-demand shows on Hulu, which was conceived five years ago to be an online location for repeats of prime-time network shows. It has added some original sitcoms and dramas recently, though the TV repeats remain its bread and butter. Now, with “Larry King Now,” it will have a four-day-a-week talk show. Hulu said in a news release that new episodes of the half-hour show would come online Monday through Thursday.

“Larry King Now” is part of a broader distribution deal with Ora TV, an Internet TV network financed by Carlos Slim Helú, the Mexican billionaire. Mr. King, a co-founder of the network, said in March that he would start hosting shows for Ora TV later in the year.

Mr. King, 78, is best known for “Larry King Live,” a CNN interview program that ended in 2010, six months before his contract was up, amid slipping television ratings. In an interview, he said of his departure from CNN, “When the train gets to the last station, you know to get off.”

Ora is a new train. The start-up has been relatively quiet since the initial announcement in March, and the deal with Hulu — one of the most-visited video sites — is a recognition that new online networks need outside help to reach viewers. “This is the first of several new shows that are expected to launch on Hulu as a result of this partnership with Ora TV,” Hulu said in its news release.

“Larry King Now” will be streamed both on Hulu and on Ora TV, the companies said.

In some ways, Mr. King’s new show will be like his old show; it will have a mix of pop culture, political and other guests and will be shown on weekdays. (The old show was televised at 9 p.m. Eastern; new episodes of the new one will come online in the early evenings.) The new one will differ in that it will have “produced segments on a variety of topics,” according to Hulu — not just interviews. And it will run about 30 minutes long, while the old show was an hour.
 
” ‘Larry King Now’ is Larry King doing what he does best — talking with top newsmakers, world leaders and entertainers and exploring issues and current events as no other interviewer can,” said Andy Forssell, the senior vice president for content at Hulu.