The Associated Press Launches Deep YouTube Channel

The Associated Press, the world's largest news organization, has recently launched a significant presence on YouTube with its own channel. Editors are uploading about 250 videos a week, Beet.TV has learned.  The AP began uploading these videos over the past month or so. 

The uploaded videos are both edited reports and clips of raw footage.  It seems that while the YouTube channel is updated regularly, some breaking news is kept for AP members and customers and uploaded to YouTube the next day.

Uploading videos to YouTube is part of plan by the AP to provide video to be used in nontraditional environments. Here's how Kevin Roach, Executive Producer of AP Online Video explained it to me:

"The Associated Press is experimenting with what might be considered nontraditional outlets, such as online communities and social networking sites, to expose our wide range of content to new audiences worldwide. Licensing content to these outlets is a way of protecting the value of AP's news in an environment where it is easy for a user to post our content without permission or payment. Showcasing video clips on You Tube is in keeping with AP's board-approved commercial strategy to protect our intellectual property and to help AP offset the costs of its global newsgathering operation. We're monitoring our foray into social media closely."

Reuters also has a YouTube channel and is uploading 3-5 clips per day, a Reuters executive told me.

-- Andy Plesser