APTN again top European news provider ‘league table’

Associated Press Television News (APTN), the international video arm of The Associated Press, were the leading provider of exclusive stories to the news exchanges of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for the fifth year running in 2003, repeating the success of the previous four years.
The EBU exchanges draw on agencies and European state broadcasters to provide many of the world's major television companies with a key source of international news coverage. EBU members were able to receive exclusive footage of top stories from APTN throughout 2003 via the exchanges.
The EBU's definition of an exclusive is a story where there is sole source for the coverage or one organisation has a significant time advantage. APTN surpassed their nearest competitor by 750 stories during 2003.
In 2002 APTN ended the year 634 ahead, in 2001 the margin of victory was 716, in 2000 the figure was 507, while in 1999 the margin was 323.
Sandy MacIntyre, APTN's Head of News, said: "APTN's success is part of a larger AP initiative to be the essential global news company. Winning by such a large margin - in a news year which presented enormous editorial and logistical challenges - proves our continued hunger to be first both in speed of delivery and distinctive journalism."
In 2003, APTN were also nominated for the prestigious International Emmy Award for its coverage of Gulf War II. More than a billion viewers saw APTN footage supplied via 500 broadcaster and online portals. The agency sent 120 people to the region, equipped with the latest video and satellite technology in what was the largest deployment in television news agency history.
(GB)