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Associated Press Television News to go all-digital
Associated Press Television News, the world’s leading video news agency, will undertake a multi-million dollar investment to upgrade its newsgathering infrastructure in order to provide high definition images to the broadcast and digital photography industries. At the same time, AP will also significantly increase the depth and breadth of video content available from around the world. The upgrade is the single biggest investment in the AP’s London-based video business since 1998, when the AP bought its competitor, Worldwide Television News. AP spokesperson Paul Colford tells RBR-TVBR no decision has been made yet on what gear will go into the project: “The short answer is that we’re still evaluating and will make purchases depending on our various needs worldwide.”
The AP’s video business arm, which has bureaus in more than 80 countries, currently supplies live news video and edited clips of entertainment, sports and lifestyle coverage to more than 1,000 national and international broadcasters and major portals worldwide via an international satellite and fiber network. The plan will make the AP’s video operations entirely digital and will enable each video to fit easily into any video segments of broadcasters and digital platforms around the world.
“Traditionally, customers have subscribed to our service for competitive coverage from every corner of the globe. But as well as having strong content, it is vital that, in the digital age, we give our customers choices about how they receive our content,” Daisy Veerasingham, senior vice president of business development and partner relations, said. “This investment will give our customers a wide range of options about the technology they use to receive video – both in the traditional broadcast market and on digital platforms. We believe 2011 is the tipping point when the majority of the international TV news markets will want pictures in high definition.”
The agency plans to introduce high-def video next year, starting with entertainment coverage and moving on to sports and live news coverage by 2012. The investment will see the company deploy state-of-the-art cameras around the world, renew its core production infrastructure and provide new eBusiness delivery platforms for digital customers.
“AP’s video journalists gather the most compelling images from the most fascinating corners of the globe every day. By deepening our investment and transitioning to digital, we reaffirm our commitment to bringing each day’s most vital videos to audiences worldwide in easy-to-use formats at the fastest possible speeds,” said Kathleen Carroll, AP executive news editor.
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