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.

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