APTN Upgrades to Digital Production, Aims for HD

Video news agency Associated Press Television News (APTN) is upgrading its London broadcast operation to a fully digital production chain in a multimillion-dollar investment programme.

The refurbishment, the first at the UK headquarters since AP took over Worldwide Television News in 1998, will include facilities for Sports News TV (SNTV), a specialist service run in partnership with TWI.

APTN provides live news and edited video clips to more than 1,000 national and international broadcasters. Material covering news, entertainment. and lifestyle, as well as sport, is distributed from London over a satellite and fibre network, with AP bureaus in 80-plus countries.

The new installation will give APTN a fully digital production flow from acquisition to distribution. It will also allow the agency to move to high definition, starting with the entertainment video service next year. Sport and live news will go HD by 2012.

“This investment will give our customers a wide range of options about the technology they use to receive video, both in the traditional broadcast market and on digital platforms,” says Daisy Veerasingham, SVP of business development and partner relations at APTN. “We believe 2011 is the tipping point when the majority of the international TV-news market will want pictures in high definition.”

In addition to shifting to HD and upgrading its central production systems, APTN will be switching to new cameras in the field and offering a e-business delivery option for digital services.