Cufflinks glinting on his wrists, anchor Roman Mamonov looked into camera as the production assistant gave the final countdown. “Five, four, three, two...”

It was 1 p.m. in the Washington, D.C. studios of “Current Time,” the U.S. government-funded channel aimed at Russia and Russian speakers, and another edition of one of its flagship shows “Current Time America” was going on air.

”Let’s check the clock against the current time from our studio in Washington,” said Mamonov, his trademark opening line.

Current Time started out as a daily program almost four years ago, before becoming a 24-hour channel last year.