In the past, the programme utilised other BBC broadcasters, including David Eades, Carolyn Quinn, Roger Hearing to regularly present on Thursdays and Fridays.
Broadcast live at 10 pm, initially for only thirty minutes, its tone was set by presenter Douglas Stuart, a former Washington and Bonn correspondent for the BBC.
The US time zone (five hours behind the UK) meant that the programme could bring up to the minute developments at 10 pm.
Presenters with strong journalistic credentials, including John Tusa, Anthony Howard, Richard Kershaw, Isabel Hilton and Robin Lustig, have secured and maintained the programme's reputation for authoritative coverage.
The laissez faire approach of the boss over the years created a culture in which Output Editors, responsible for daily editions, were able to take risks, some of which have led to notable scoops, such as the predicted arrest on war crimes charges of General Augusto Pinochet in 1998.