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CNBC revamps morning schedule

CNBC is revamping its morning lineup, including a worldwide business news program with anchors in New York, London and Singapore.
/ Source: The Associated Press

CNBC is revamping its morning lineup, including a worldwide business news program with anchors in New York, London and Singapore.

"Squawk Box" will expand to four hours, although popular anchor Mark Haines is being cut back to one hour on the air.

(MSNBC is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC. GE owns both NBC and CNBC, which is a MSNBC.com content provider.)

CNBC now has more potential viewers overseas than in the United States, where it is seen in 86 million of the more than 200 million homes that carry it worldwide. The new global business show, which doesn't have a name yet, will air 4 to 6 a.m. EST in the United States.

Michelle Caruso-Cabrera will get the early morning wake-up call in New York, Ross Westgate will anchor in London and Christine Tan in Singapore. The timing is to coincide with the close of markets in Asia and midday in London, said Mark Hoffman, CNBC president.

"There's real commerce being conducted, real trading being conducted, real business being conducted, and we're able to bring that to viewers worldwide," he said.

"Squawk Box" will air 6 to 10 a.m., anchored during the first three hours by Joe Kernen, Becky Quick and Carl Quintanilla, who's rejoining CNBC from NBC News. Regular contributor David Faber will be on after 9 a.m. along with Haines.

Starting at 9, Haines will anchor "Squawk on the Street" from a new set overlooking the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

So, is shifting from three hours on the air each day as part of an ensemble to one hour with your own show considered a demotion or promotion?

"That can be debated," Hoffman said, although he added Haines' hour offers a showcase when the markets open in New York.

The changes announced Tuesday are the first major programming moves for Hoffman, former general manager of the NBC affiliate in Hartford, Conn., since replacing Pamela Thomas-Graham at the helm of CNBC in September.