04/14/2010


AP Press Release

AP Images.com adds online video to its offerings

NEW YORK – AP Online Video is being added to APImages.com -- the first time that online video is being made available to Web publishers for purchase alongside photos on the platform.

"Web publishers and digital media buyers are looking for new ways to find and quickly download the most compelling content to add another layer to their coverage or message," said Fernando Ferre, global director of AP Images, a commercial division of the AP. "Since AP is in the business of telling stories across all content types, this makes APImages.com the most robust, single-source destination for all the latest news videos."

The video content includes breaking news from the International and U.S. markets, along with Entertainment, Sports, Business, Politics, Technology and offbeat clips. Videos are available on the site as news breaks and customers will be able to download them in a variety of formats and resolutions. Raw and unvoiced versions will also be available for customers who want to edit the material into their own video packages.

Part of the online video offering is the expanded availability of AP’s premium online video entertainment product, AP Celebrity Extra, featuring entertainment video clips, celebrity profiles and interviews. “Providing video on the AP Images platform provides a flexible new option for AP video customers. We know that top clips drive usage, and now customers can select the ones they think are most important,” said Bill Burke, AP’s Global Director for Online Video.

Adding online video is just the latest enhancement provided by AP Images. The commercial photo division of The Associated Press is rolling out a new premium service this week that would make some of AP’s top staff photographers available to other newsgathering organizations for editorial assignments around the world.

“We designed this service to harness the power of AP’s award-winning photojournalism and packaged it into a compelling service for our customers,” said AP Images Director of Content & Services Dan Becker. “It offers the accurate and timely execution of our customers’ unique assignment needs with global access to AP’s elite staff photographers.”

AP Images already offers a high-quality photography assignment service for commercial entities in which public relations firms, corporations and others can commission photo teams for non-editorial assignments, such as sponsored events or tradeshows.

AP Director of Photography Santiago Lyon explained how the newly launched editorial commissioning service would work. “If a particular publication or media outlet wants to use one of our staff photographers for an editorial assignment -- photographing Easter festivities in Spain, for example -- and it would fit into the photographer’s scheduling and our commitments, we would assign that shooter to the story,” he said.

A select group of some 25 AP staff photographers is on board to participate in the startup of the new service.

The AP Images Web page for the new service is available at http://www.apimages.com/marketing/eas.html

About AP Images
AP Images, a division of The Associated Press, is one of the world’s largest collections of historical and contemporary imagery. As an essential source of photographs and graphics for professional image buyers, AP Images strives to meet the need of today’s global customer through superior image quality, selection and service. More information can be found at www.apimages.com

About The AP
The Associated Press is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the largest and most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world’s population sees news from AP. On the Net: www.ap.org

Contact: Ellen Mamedov, AP Images Marketing Manager, 212.621.6909