12/08/2009

AP Statement

The Associated Press sells German news service to ddp

The Associated Press has sold its German-language news service to German news agency ddp as part of a larger arrangement that also includes a mutual 15-year content licensing agreement.

Tom Brettingen, senior vice president and chief revenue officer of The Associated Press, said: "This new arrangement is consistent with AP's core mission to deliver authoritative breaking news from around the world. As part of its leadership role in the digital transformation of media, AP is focusing on building strong partnerships with local news agencies and ensuring that all content providers are protected against misappropriation and receive fair value for the use of their content wherever news is consumed -- on the Web, mobile and other emerging platforms."

AP will maintain a strong commitment to the region, with 40 editorial staffers covering Germany, Switzerland and Austria – in text, photos and video -- for our international, English-language service. The German-language service will continue to be staffed by the people who have been producing it until now and AP is confident that ddp will provide the same quality of local language news coverage that customers expect.

Financial terms will not be disclosed.

AP Corporate Communications:

Jack Stokes
212.621.1730
jstokes@ap.org

The Dec. 8 AP story is posted here.

Below is the DDP press release:

ddp acquires Associated Press German-language news service

Berlin, Dec. 8 – German news agency ddp today announced it had acquired the German language news service of The Associated Press.

The agreement includes a mutual 15-year content licensing agreement under which ddp will have rights to translate AP content into German for use in the German-speaking market, and AP will have access to ddp's coverage for translation into English and use outside of the German-speaking market.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Peter Löw, co-owner of ddp, said: “ddp and the German language service of AP will form a strong group, combining the famous AP high quality news around the world with the ddp in-depth coverage in Germany. The AP service will continue to be produced by the people who have been producing it while ddp integrates the two services.”

Tom Brettingen, senior vice president and chief revenue officer of The Associated Press, said: "This new arrangement is consistent with AP's core mission to deliver authoritative breaking news from around the world. As part of its leadership role in the digital transformation of news media, AP is focusing on building strong partnerships with local news agencies and ensuring that all content providers are protected against misappropriation and receive fair value for the use of their content wherever news is consumed - on the Web, mobile and other emerging platforms."

About ddp Deutscher Depeschendienst
ddp is a leading news agency in Germany. It offers a great variety of news and images around the clock to its customers within the print, radio and television businesses but also to customers in the fields of economics and politics. A comprehensive network of about 400 reporters and news editors produces about 600 news stories in different formats and approximately 400 images every day. ddp's coverage of daily newspapers in Germany is above 80%.

About The AP
The Associated Press is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the largest and most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world's population sees news from AP. On the Net: www.ap.org