Christiane Amanpour to anchor ‘This Week’

After two decades covering wars, famines and countless natural disasters, CNN’s chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is headed to a new network and a new battleground: Washington. ABC News on Thursday hired the CNN stalwart as the new host of “This Week,” its Sunday morning public affairs program.

ABC’s bold move signals that it intends to shake up the Sunday morning field, long dominated by NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Although Amanpour is a strong personality with substantial journalistic credentials, her specialty has long been international affairs -- she has been reporting from around the world for CNN since 1990 -- and her appointment comes at a time when ABC has been dramatically scaling back its foreign operations as part of deep cuts to its news divisions.

Not only that, but network Sunday programs are known for reveling in inside-the-beltway politics with limited forays into international events. Her challenge when she joins ABC in August will be to shift the show’s focus without alienating viewers.

“My mission, my purpose, has always been to make foreign news less foreign and to point out that foreign events directly impact the home front -- from the White House, Capitol Hill and elsewhere,” Amanpour said. “The DNA of the program will remain, but we will try to broaden it out to reflect the bigger picture.”

Amanpour, 52, will leave CNN -- where she has worked for 27 years -- at the end of April. ABC’s Jake Tapper will continue as interim host of “This Week.” The change-up comes after George Stephanopoulos left “This Week” in January to co-anchor “Good Morning America,” taking over for Diane Sawyer, who moved up to the “World News” anchor desk.

Amanpour will face considerable challenges in her new role. Viewers seem less interested in foreign coverage, and “This Week” has been slipping in the ratings. “This Week” has dropped to third place behind CBS’ “Face the Nation” with Bob Schieffer.

meg.james@latimes.com