CNN International will launch a new morning news program for Asia-Pacific viewers from this coming Monday.

CNN Newsroom Live from Hong Kong is described by CNN as an "essential morning briefing ... reporting on the top stories from Asia Pacific and across the world, from business to sport, weather, technology and entertainment."

The new program, anchored by Andrew Stevens and Patricia Wu, airs weekdays between 6:00am and 8:00am (Hong Kong). A 20 second promotional spot is below.


In related news, Pauline Chiou replaces Andrew Stevens as the Hong Kong-based co-anchor of World Business Today. Stevens was bid a fond farewell from the twice-daily business program last week. Video below courtesy of forum member ginnyfan.

UPDATE #2 - 1:30am September 9, 2011: Another email tipster says to expect Quest Means Business to re-air at 10:00pm (eastern) on ALL CNN International feeds. If true, then the network has well and truly lost the plot. A topical business news program, tracking (in part) the latest market movements on Wall Street, airing 8 hours after it first runs. You read that correct. An 8 hour old program running instead of a live program during Asia's late morning.

UPDATE #1 - 2:00am September 8, 2011: CNN Observations is still awaiting confirmation from CNN International on whether the network will go ahead and air the 10:00pm (eastern) replay of Anderson Cooper 360º from next week, but two emails from Atlanta suggest that the northern feeds may take the replay, while feeds in Asia Pacific will replay Quest Means Business in the 10:00pm (eastern) time slot. Again, CNN Observations is still awaiting official confirmation from CNN.

Whilst I was politely reminded in one of the emails I received that Quest Means Business is a CNN International production, the ratio of International Vs. Domestic-produced programs on CNN International wasn't really the point I was trying to highlight during the first part of the post below. The point I was trying to make is that CNN International is down an hour of LIVE news during the Asia morning dayside hours. In that context, whether it's the repeat of Anderson Cooper 360º or Quest Means Business that goes to air is pretty much redundant as both will be on tape.

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Anderson Cooper 360º has been simulcast on CNN International for a number of years at the same time it went to air live at 10:00pm (eastern) in the U.S. Once the program moved to 8:00pm (eastern) early in August, CNN International decided to stick with airing the taped replay at 10:00pm (eastern). As of this week, that’s all changed. Sort of.

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After serving as a anchor and Senior Producer for CNN en Español for more than five years, Luis Carlos Velez will be moving to New York to co-anchor the 8 PM ET version of World Business Today on CNN International with Colleen McEdwards from Atlanta and Pauline Chiou from Hong Kong. He starts on-air Tuesday, March 1.

World Business Today provides an overview of late-breaking financial, economic, and business news from around the world.

Luis Carlos Velez becomes the first Hispanic to be anchoring news at CNN International, and the first to jump from CNN en Español to CNN International.

CNN Press Release - CNN today announced the appointment of Pauline Chiou as an anchor/correspondent based in the network’s Asia Pacific regional headquarters in Hong Kong.

Chiou has previously worked for CNN based in Atlanta and has covered major international stories including the 2008 U.S. presidential elections, the Iraq war and the resignations of former White House senior political advisor Karl Rove and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. In addition, her business experience has included reporting live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

“Pauline is a seasoned journalist with a first class portfolio of anchoring and reporting experience and we look forward to her joining our award-winning team in Hong Kong” said Katherine Green, Senior Vice President Programming for CNN International. “More than ever, Asia Pacific plays a pivotal role in global affairs. Pauline’s appointment further underlines CNN's expansion of newsgathering resources in this key region and beyond,” she added.

Chiou received a Bachelor of Arts in history from Yale University and a Master of Science in Journalism from Medill School of Journalism. In 2008 she was awarded the Don T. Sheehan International fellowship to attend the annual Wharton Seminars for Business Journalists. At the start of her career she won an Associated Press Award for Feature Reporting for a special series on the Massachusetts National Guard’s peacekeeping missions in Bosnia.

Prior to joining CNN, she worked as a weekend evening anchor at the CBS station in Boston, Massachusetts and as a morning news anchor for the NBC station in Houston, Texas.