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03/01/06
The
Associated Press teams with MSN to launch the AP Online Video
Network
Available after
two months in beta, ad-supported service allows the 4,000
AP member Web sites to offer a free online video service to
its audience
NEW YORK -- The Associated Press (AP) today launched with
MSN the AP Online Video Network in the United States. The
breaking news video service, powered by MSN Video and leveraging
AP content, is uniquely tailored for Web sites and provides
high-quality, in-depth reports from the world's largest newsgathering
agency.
"Our job is to bring the sites' readers to the scene
of the story," said Brad Kalbfeld, deputy director and
managing editor of AP's broadcast division. "When people
read a story on the Web, they want to know what things looked
like, what it felt like to be there. AP journalists and cameras
across the country and around the world are dedicated to doing
that."
Among the videos on the site after the network went live March
1 shortly after midnight, were stories of New Orleans sweeping
up after its first post-Katrina Mardi Gras. The images were
one of a series of breaking news videos that complemented
newspaper and broadcast Web sites' stories. The network also
carried a special section of compelling video stories about
the six-month anniversary of Katrina and the continuing impact
of the hurricane's devastating aftermath across the Gulf Coast
region.
The debut of the AP Online Video Network makes dynamic, high-quality
video available to a network of AP newspaper and broadcast
member Web sites in the U.S. and an initial audience of 45
million unique visitors. Going forward, the service will offer
some 40 video clips per day covering national, international,
technology, business and entertainment news, including packages
from this week's coverage of the Academy Awards.
"This video initiative with MSN is an example of the
type of targeted solutions AP is committed to providing its
members to compete successfully on the Web in a crowded marketplace,"
said Tom Curley, president and CEO of the AP. "It combines
proven technology and advertising sales expertise from MSN
with AP's quality news content and a revenue-sharing business
model for our members."
AP and MSN first announced this online video project in November
2005. AP member and customer Web sites participating in the
AP Online Video Network receive a custom-branded MSN ®
Video player, prestream advertising that runs prior to the
video in the player, a portion of the advertising revenue
and daily news video from AP -- all provided at no charge
to members and customers who sign up for the fully ad-supported
service. The member's only commitment is to prominently place
links to the video player on their home pages and within related
text stories.
Currently over 50 of America's top TV spending brands have
embraced MSN Video. Two consecutive studies conducted for
MSN by research firm Millward Brown found the TV commercials
tested online to generate an equal amount of brand memorability
and persuasion (key components of advertising effectiveness)
as those airing on TV.
"More and more people are going online to watch news;
for many it is the preferred way to get news. With this syndication
deal, MSN is excited to work with AP, a world leader in news
gathering, to further extend the reach of both our video service
and AP's news content to the widest audience possible,"
said Todd Herman, director of advertising and business strategy
for MSN Entertainment and Video at Microsoft Corp.
The Internet ad-based network, which began beta testing Jan.
19, launches with more than 450 sites signed up.
The Kansas City Star is one of the AP daily newspaper members
that participated in the beta testing of the service. "We
want to be the dominant source for local news on all platforms,
and that means we need to provide video on our KansasCity.com
Web site," said Mark Zieman, editor of the Star, which
started doing breaking news video in October 2005. "By
adding AP's video report, we now can give our users the entire
menu, from local to national and international. It's a great
competitive advantage -- and a proven traffic driver for us."
New York all-news radio station 1010 WINS also took part in
the beta testing. "We've never been big fans of beta
testing at 1010 WINS," said Mark Mason, vice president/news
for CBS Radio Stations. "However, when the Associated
Press invited us to participate in their new Online Video
Network, we jumped at the chance to feature topical news video
on our site. The integration was a snap and their production
is top-notch. We're looking forward to prominently placing
APOVN content on the new 1010wins.com."
In addition to providing AP members with a customizable video
player based on Windows Media technology, MSN is working to
expand the functionality of the network, including local content
ingestion, local advertising, and content syndication systems
for AP affiliates within the network. AP members that use
the new service will have the opportunity to share revenue
generated by ads on their Web sites. To date, MSN Video has
provided video technology exclusively to sites within the
MSN network. This relationship represents the first time MSN
Video player technology will be syndicated to sites outside
its network. MSNBC.com will continue to be the exclusive video
news content partner for MSN.
About The Associated Press
The Associated Press is the world's oldest and largest newsgathering
organization, providing content to more than 15,000 news outlets
with a daily reach of 1 billion people. AP's multimedia services
are distributed by satellite and the Internet to more than
120 countries. See details at
http://www.ap.org and on the AP Online Video Network promo
page at http://www.ap.org/ovn
About MSN Video
MSN Video is the largest video-only streaming service on the
Web, offering 41 channels of content that are updated multiple
times a day. In addition to streaming an average of 66 million
news, entertainment and sports video clips per month from
more than 45 content partners, MSN Video presents a broad
array of live events to online audiences worldwide. More than
50 top advertisers support MSN Video, which is available to
consumers at no charge. MSN Video is available on the Web
at http://msnvideo.com to
consumers in the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia;
the service also is in beta testing in the United Kingdom.
About MSN
MSN attracts more than 465 million unique users worldwide
per month. With localized versions available globally in 41
markets and 21 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering
Web services to consumers and online advertising opportunities
to businesses worldwide. The most useful and innovative online
service today, MSN brings consumers everything they need from
the Web to make the most of their time online. MSN is located
on the Web at http://www.msn.com.
MSN worldwide sites are located at http://www.msn.com/worldwide.ashx.
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Microsoft, MSN and Windows Media are either registered trademarks
or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or
other countries. The names of actual companies and products
mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective
owners.
For more information, press only:
Jack Stokes, The Associated Press, (212) 621-1730, jstokes@ap.org
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