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Veteran US television host Larry King has died aged 87, ABC News reported, citing his production company.

The former CNN talk show host was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for coronavirus treatment at the beginning of January.

The Peabody Award-winning broadcaster was among America's most prominent interviewers of celebrities, presidents and other newsmakers during a half-century career that included 25 years with a nightly show on CNN.

He retired from Larry King Live in 2010, but did not stay off the airwaves for long, and in 2012 began hosting Larry King Now on Ora TV, an on-demand digital network he co-founded.

He has had medical issues in recent decades, including several heart attacks and quintuple bypass surgery in 1987.

Ora Media confirmed King's death in a statement tweeted from his account. It did not specify the cause of death.

"For 63 years and across the platforms of radio, television and digital media, Larry's many thousands of interviews, awards, and global acclaim stand as a testament to his unique and lasting talent as a broadcaster," the statement read.

King conducted an estimated 50,000 on-air interviews.