Associated Press Television News, often abbreviated AP Television News or APTN, is a global video news agency operated by the Associated Press.
AP Television News is the video division of the Associated Press. It provides many of the world's broadcasters with a round-the-clock continuous feed of news, sports, entertainment and feature video content. Associated Press Television News Ltd. is a UK corporation owned and controlled by the Associated Press.
Headquartered in North London, AP Television News was founded in 1994 as Associated Press Television or APTV. They moved to their present headquarters in 1999 when APTV bought out competitor Worldwide Television News (WTN) and hired Roberto FE Soto as their first NYC Bureau Chief. The WTN building and facilities located at 1995 Broadway were deemed more suitable than the existing AP headquarters and Soto redesigned the newsroom, where APTN NY stayed until AP moved their operations to W 33 street in NYC, where they remain.
Since its rebranding in 2005, the APTN name and logo has been dropped in favour of "AP Television News", featuring the red AP logo of the Associated Press to emphasise its connection to the AP. However, many broadcasters still refer to the television organization as APTN.
APTN distributes video to its client broadcasters around the world, mostly by satellite. Many major broadcasters and networks rely heavily upon APTN for major breaking news from around the world. The company also provides specialised "Broadcast Services" for its clients, such as editing, crewing or satellite feeds from news and sports events. Historical footage is also made available from its extensive film and video archives, which date back to 1895. It includes the film and video archives of onetime AP rival UPI's longtime newsfilm service United Press International Television News, which was the original agency that became WTN.