[thegeek]

It's really sad to hear that the WBR name will be dropped after many, many years. Does anyone know when it was actually first introduced? I'm certain it goes back to the early BBC World Service TV days, so possibly some time in the early 1990s?

There's a bit of an April 1994 edition on YouTube. Not a bad innings, and a shame to see the (perfectly serviceable) name ditched.

[DTV]

It's really sad to hear that the WBR name will be dropped after many, many years. Does anyone know when it was actually first introduced? I'm certain it goes back to the early BBC World Service TV days, so possibly some time in the early 1990s?

As far as I was able to work out, World Business Report was there from the beginning - initially broadcast at 18:45 UKT, just before the then single BBC World Service News bulletin at 19:00 UKT. From October, it moved to after Newsnight, and was extended to 30 minutes in June 1992 (though additional bulletins might also have been broadcast on WSTV Asia at the time). From October 1992, when Newsnight was moved to tape delay, the main edition was broadcast at 22:30 UKT.

When BBC World launched, the main edition was incorporated into The World Report, with an additional afternoon edition added at 13:15 GMT (plus unbranded business updates in other programmes). The main edition was separated out again in January 1998, now at 21:10 UKT, moving to 21:30 with a February 2000 rebrand, from which point it was dual-presented from London and New York. At this point, four standalone editions aired daily (13:15 GMT, 17:15 UKT, 18:40 UKT, 21:30 UKT), but this was massively expanded in September 2001 - with the launch of the new European breakfast schedule (introducing editions at 05:30, 06:30 and 07:30 UKT) and the refreshed Asian afternoon schedule (10:45 and 12:30 GMT bulletins replacing the 13:15).

WBR rebranded in July 2003 and, by late 2005, there were a dozen editions of the programme daily. Coinciding with the launch of World News Today in July 2006, WBR again rebranded - adopting the 'barcode' titles - with extra editions included in most editions of WNT. From September 2006, the main edition was pushed back to 22:30 UKT, before moving forward to 22:15 the following July and axed and replaced by World News Today: Business Edition in May 2008. From the February 2010 mega-schedule change, the remaining 30 minute editions were reduced to 15 minutes.

This will also be the demise of Asia Business Report, which was launched in its current form (an earlier version may have aired on WSTV Asia) in October 2000, with Mishal Husain briefly the main presenter, followed by a few others before long-term host Rico Hizon joined in 2002. It initially only aired on the three Asian feeds of the channel, but a single edition was aired on all feeds from mid-2008, with all editions doing so from the Feb 2010 changes.

Feel that's a pretty comprehensive pre-NBH history of the programme.

[itsrobert]

That's absolutely brilliant, many thanks DTV for the potted history. What a shame that the brand comes to an end after over 30 years and for what purpose?

I wonder if the new version will have refreshed music and graphics etc. or is this just going to be a bit of a botched job of slapping the new name onto the existing WBR branding?

[Stuart]

I wonder if the new version will have refreshed music and graphics etc. or is this just going to be a bit of a botched job of slapping the new name onto the existing WBR branding?

Someone has probably already spent moments on a new PowerPoint title sequence involving a red circular image.

[Rolling News]

Someone has probably already spent moments on a new PowerPoint title sequence involving a red circular image.

With various circular shots of different financial institutions in the U.K, USA or Asia, to make it look sophisticated.

[thegeek]

Thanks DTV for the excellent history.

TV Ark has this clip:
tvark.org 

World Business Report | TVARK
Home Instagram Facebook X Forum Search TVARK Branding News Programmes Features T…
  Source: tvark.org

Clinton's speech to the WEF (the lead story here) took place on the 26th of January 1995, so we're only 10 days into the BBC World era here.

There's also a 1992 clip of "World Business News" from WSTV - with a familiar theme tune, and apparently Collaterlie Sisters presenting.
tvark.org 

BBC World Business News | TVARK
Home Instagram Facebook X Forum Search TVARK Branding News Programmes Features T…
  Source: tvark.org

and from April 1994, a flags-era WSTV WBR, recorded from Star TV Malaysia (lest the mods get het up, as far as I can tell it was uploaded to YouTube by the person who recorded it)
youtu.be 

So did "World Business News" and "World Business Report" co-exist in the early 90s, or did the brand come into being sometime in those two years?

[Omnipresent]

I remember the dual presented editions of WBR from London and a tiny studio in New York.

The two presenters would conduct interviews together. I remember one studio guest in London who didn't seem to be aware of this looking visibly confused mid way through an interview when Tanya Beckett started asking questions from New York.

[itsrobert]

I remember the dual presented editions of WBR from London and a tiny studio in New York.

The two presenters would conduct interviews together. I remember one studio guest in London who didn't seem to be aware of this looking visibly confused mid way through an interview when Tanya Beckett started asking questions from New York.

Yes, the co-pres version was a good edition. I liked how they bounced off each other so seamlessly even though they were thousands of miles apart. I wonder if the success of that WBR edition gave them the idea to start up the London/Washington co-pres news bulletin with Katty Kay and Adrian Finighan a few years later? Anyway, I seem to remember different presenters had a trademark sign-off for the London/New York edition. John Terret's was "two for the price of one on this programme" and I think Paddy O'Connell's might have been something like "we're the business and thank you for yours" or something alone those lines. The memory's fuzzy now.

I most remember seeing WBR between about 2001 and 2012 really when I had a satellite dish that could receive BBC World. Presenters of WBR from that era included those mentioned above, but also Jamie Robertson, Tanya Beckett, Manisha Tank, Jane Sinclair, Sara Coburn. Then came Sally Bundock and Aaron Heslehurst. Of course when Aaron started he had a fairly normal, if upbeat, presenting style before he went into orbit some years later and tried to out-Quest Richard Quest!

[Spencer]

With various circular shots of different financial institutions in the U.K, USA or Asia, to make it look sophisticated.

Sorry, but BBC News’ branding guidelines currently forbid the use of anything ‘sophisticated’.

[Brekkie]

Not wanting to sidetrack the Newsnight thread but with Newsnight for a long-time now being probably the only network news programme to get end credits just wondering if BBC1 bulletins ever had any kind of credits?