From 1997 until 2005, this edition included exclusive programmes to the Asia-Pacific region such as Asia This Day, CNN This Morning (Asian edition), News Biz Today and Asia Tonight.
The amount of live programming on CNN International Asia Pacific in 1999 was five hours a day, rising from a mere two-and-a-quarter hours. [1]
Since mid-2003, News Biz Today and Asia Tonight (which were eventually renamed CNN Today and World News Asia respectively) were simulcast on the other editions of CNN International. Other programming differences included airing reruns of key programmes like Amanpour and varying showtimes of weekend magazine programmes when live news is shown elsewhere to allow Asia-Pacific audiences to watch them at a similar time slots to their counterparts elsewhere.
In addition, from 1995 to 2004, to differentiate the Asia Pacific feed from the other feeds, the network logo on the lower-right hand of the screen had a static globe with the Asian continent facing the audiences.
Today, the differences between the Asia-Pacific feed and the other feeds are minimal and are now limited to advertising, show promos, and weather updates.
Conversion to 16:9 and HD
In mid-2013, CNNI Asia-Pacific introduced a 16:9 HD version of its feed on selected pay-TV operators. It was at this time that all Hong Kong–based shows have started airing using a 16:9 format. The SD version is still available but it is further downscaled to 4:3 letterbox on some providers.
Mainland China
CNN has reported that their broadcast agreement in mainland China includes an arrangement that their signal must pass through a Chinese-controlled satellite. In this way, Chinese authorities have been able to black out CNN segments at will.
