07/27/07

AP will shut down 'asap,' a 2-year-old premium multimedia service

By SETH SUTEL
AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Associated Press is closing down a 2-year-old premium multimedia service that emphasized nontraditional methods of storytelling, saying that it had failed to gain enough traction with newspaper clients.

The service, called "asap," will be discontinued as a standalone service on Oct. 31, Kathleen Carroll, executive editor of the news cooperative, told AP staff in an internal memo Friday.
Originally conceived as a premium service to help newspapers reach the 18-to-34 age group, asap had evolved into a broader product aimed at readers of all ages. In addition to news stories, asap produced videos, podcasts and multimedia packages.

In her note, Carroll called the service a "terrific journalism success." She cited the fact that asap had won an EPpy award -- a prize administered by the industry magazines Editor & Publisher and Mediaweek -- for best news site with fewer than 1 million visitors.
"Economic success, however, has proved more elusive," Carroll wrote.

In an interview, Carroll declined to specify what the unit's losses were or how much the AP had invested in it.

"We're in the business of providing news coverage in a fiscally responsible way," she said. "If we launch a product that is intended to generate revenues, they need to generate sufficient revenue for us to continue to produce them."

It wasn't yet clear whether the shutdown would result in layoffs for any of the division's 24 staff members. Carroll said in her memo that the AP wanted to "replant" the skills developed at asap into other AP departments, such as lifestyles and entertainment reporting.

The service had about 200 newspaper subscribers, AP spokesman Paul Colford said. He said those subscribers, as well as the asap staff, were informed of the shutdown Friday.
The service launched in September 2005.

Newspapers are seeking various ways to cut costs amid a sharp downturn in advertising. This week and last, several major newspaper companies reported lower earnings and steep declines in ad revenues.