Longtime BBC Washington correspondent Katty Kay has been named lead anchor of “BBC World News America,” the nightly newscast that airs on the BBC World News cable channel and on PBS stations across the U.S. Kay is effectively replacing Matt Frei, who had been the lead anchor on the newscast before jumping to Channel 4 in May. Kay also appears regularly on many U.S. networks on shows such as “Meet the Press.”

“In an increasingly complex world, BBC World News America offers a unique global perspective on events both within and outside the U.S.” says Kay in a statement. ” I am delighted to be anchoring a newscast that covers not just the big breaking stories, but wider analysis and reports, as well as bringing the very best of BBC journalism from our network of correspondents around the world to US audiences.”

More information about the move, after the jump.

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Rome Hartman is leaving BBC America and joining NBC News where he will be Executive Producer of the new primetime magazine hour anchored by Brian Williams.

Hartman joined the BBC in 2007 as the first EP of the network’s “World News America.” Before that he’d spent 24 years with CBS News, in his final year as the EP, overseeing the launch of “The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.” Couric recently departed that show, and CBS News, after five years. Matt Frei, the original anchor of “World News America,” also left that post last month.

Also announced, NBC News veteran David Corvo has been promoted to Senior Executive Producer of Primetime News, overseeing the new newsmagazine as well as “Dateline.” Corvo joined NBC in 1995 after spending most of his career at CBS News, at times, working with Hartman.

Hartman will be responsible for the development and launch of the Williams hour, a live, weekly broadcast which NBC says “will be built around the week’s biggest and most interesting events, meaningful and in-depth stories, and timely newsmaker interviews.”

More in the press release after the jump…

Update: BBC statements after the jump as well…

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“BBC World News America” anchor Matt Frei is leaving the program to become Washington correspondent for the UK’s Channel 4. Frei has anchored the program since October, 2007.

Channel 4 is rejiggering its lineup, hence the addition of Frei. Political correspondent Cathy Newman is becoming a regular “presenter” (that would be “anchor” stateside) while Jackie Long is joining the network as social affairs editor.

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Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism announced the winners of the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards today. Among the 13 winners of a silver baton were ABC News, BBC America, CBS News, and PBS.

ABC News won the award for their “20/20″ report “Brian Ross Investigates: ‘The Coach’s Secret’,” which investigated male swim coach sex scandals involving teen female swimmers. The recipients of the award are ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross and producers Megan Chuchmach and Avni Patel.

“BBC World News America: ‘Haiti’s Earthquake’” also won a silver baton for a series of reports in the wake of the earthquake in Haiti, which exposed tragic loss of life as well as relief efforts. The award was presented to BBC World News America anchor Matt Frei and BBC Correspondent Matthew Price.

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The U.S. networks have all announced their midterm election coverage plans, and now the BBC is joining them. At 7 PM on election night BBC America will air a special edition of “BBC World News America,” “US 2010 Results.”

The program will be co-anchored by Matt Frei and Katty Kay, and will originate from the BBC’s Washington DC bureau. ABC News veteran and BBC World News America contributor Ted Koppel will provide analysis, with Emily Maitlis explaining the results via–of course–a touchscreen wall. Other analysts and guests will include Time‘s Mike Duffy and University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato.

Coverage will continue throughout the night at BBC.com/news.

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TV News correspondents are descending on Chile’s Atacama desert as the rescue of 33 miners trapped since August 5 is now just days away.

“Today” show national correspondent Natalie Morales left New York for Chile on Friday and began reporting today for NBC News and The Weather Channel. NBC News Miami-based correspondent Kerry Sanders, (with Morales, right) who has been in Chile since Sept. 28, has been reporting for several NBCU channels, including MSNBC and CNBC.

ABC’s Jeffrey Kofman who was one of the first American news correspondents on the scene in August, remains on site. John Quinones is also there working on a report for “20/20″ to air this Friday and Diana Alvear is reporting for NewsOne and ABC News Radio.

For CBS News, Seth Doane is in place. Fox News Channel’s Steve Harrigan has been in-country since last Tuesday reporting for the cable news channel and CNN has a team of 14 people on the ground including Karl Penhaul who’s been on the ground since August 23 for both CNN/U.S. and CNNI. All-platform journalist Patrick Oppmann is also reporting for the network and Gary Tuchman will be on air soon as he just arrived this morning.

BBC World News America’s Matt Frei will anchor tonight’s show from the scene in Copiago and will remain until the miners are freed.

TV News crews in position near the mine site in Chile’s Atacama Desert where rescuers finished drilling 566 meters underground Sunday in an effort to free 33 trapped miners.

“BBC World News America” is bringing in well-known British journalist Jon Sopel from the mother country to fill-in for Matt Frei during his two-week vacation. He started Monday night.

Sopel is a regular “presenter” for BBC One and BBC News 24, and we think that means “anchor” in American. In related news, I will be replaced during my next vacation by my British counterpart, the editor of popular website TellyNewser.com.

July 12 will mark the six month anniversary of the tragic earthquake in Haiti and newsers including CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Sanjay Gupta, who were both closely associated with their coverage of the disaster earlier this year, are returning to the country for the occasion.

Cooper and Gupta — along with Gary Tuchman and Ivan Watson — will anchor from Port Au Prince on Monday and Tuesday of next week and will revisit some of the stories they covered in the disaster’s aftermath. Cooper, who last reported there on February 12, was the first anchor in Haiti following the earthquake and spent nearly a month anchoring “AC360″ from the region. Cooper’s been on the road quite a bit in the first half of 2010, also anchoring from the Gulf Coast regularly over the past six weeks.

Additionally, David Muir will return to Haiti for ABC News starting tonight for a series of reports called “World News Returns to Haiti,” which continues through the anniversary on the 12th.

NBC News Chief Science and Health Correspondent Robert Bazell returned today to report on the anniversary for “Nightly News,” revisiting hospitals he profiled for the newscast.

Matt Frei returns for a “BBC World News America” special edition on Monday.

“PBS NewsHour” Senior Correspondent Ray Suarez returns for a multi-part series of reports from Haiti each day from Monday-Thursday.

> We’ll update with more info as it comes in…

“BBC World News America” will be broadcasting from Brazil this Thursday and Friday. Anchor Matt Frei, who’s normally based out of Washington with Katty Kay, will be in Sao Paulo on the 27th and Rio de Janeiro on the 28th for the newscast.

BBC America plans to examine the country’s political and economic growth through a series of pieces that begins Monday and concludes with the broadcasts from South America at the end of the week.

Previously: TVNewser spoke with “World News America” EP Rome Hartman when the BBC America crew had their last adventure on the road in Havana, Cuba.

Two former CNNers, Miles O’Brien and Veronica De La Cruz, are together at the anchor desk this week. But not on a news network. The pair picked up an unique gig in Orlando “anchoring” at the broadcast center of SAP’s annual “Sapphire Now” event — a three-day conference put on for the business software company’s customers and partners.

A SAP spokesperson tells us the newsers were hired to handle coverage for the Sapphire Now website during the conference in an effort to extend “the reach and viewpoints” of the event using a familiar and recognizable format. It’s the first year SAP has attempted the this type of pseudo-newscasting for the yearly gathering.

The “broadcast center” is on the show floor, and O’Brien and De La Cruz “anchor” segments throughout the day with various conference participants, including before and after keynotes.

In addition to the Orlando location, the conference takes place simultaneously in Germany. Another familiar face is anchoring there:

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