World Report (CNN) - 2008 Refresh

2008 Refresh

CNN International began another revamp of the channel in late 2008. Starting in September, the Asian edition reverted to a single-anchor format. Kristie Lu Stout presented the first two hours, while Hugh Riminton anchored the last hour of the Asian edition and the first hour of the European edition. Also, the European edition was reduced by another 30 minutes for World Sport. The remaining 30 minutes aired after World Sport, and Max Foster anchored those last 30 minutes solo. As a result, Hong Kong produces four hours of "CNN Today", while London produces a cumulative two hours of "CNN Today".

The anchoring lineups changed once again. Lu Stout was on maternity leave for most of the end of 2008, and Kaushal Patel relieved for her. Kristie Lu Stout returned in January 2009, and Patel returned to Atlanta and later left the network. Anna Coren was hired from Seven Network in December 2008, and began presenting the third hour of the programme. On a related note, Hugh Riminton left CNN after four years with the channel and returned to Canberra, Australia to become the chief political correspondent for Network Ten. Kristie Lu Stout anchors the Asian evening bulletins, while Coren anchors mostly the Asian morning bulletins.

The newly-shortened European edition also changed anchors. Monita Rajpal and Max Foster left the programme in April 2009. Don Riddell, a London-based sport anchor for CNN and Zain Verjee, then CNN State Department correspondent in Washington, became the anchors of the programme. Rajpal now anchors "World Report" later in the morning, while Foster is a special correspondent and relief anchor for "Connect the World", a evening programme and other shows.

The European edition now features a new, lighter format for its first 90 continuous minutes. Sasha Herrimen presents a lighter story a few times throughout the programme and often provides a look at the front pages of London's newspapers. The sport update is now shown on the show, and later the morning (Asia/European Time) World Business Today anchored by Charles Hodson and Andrew Stevens appears.