Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SEATTLE (AFX) - Getty Images Inc. and The Associated Press have signed a deal that allows Getty to distribute archived AP video footage of news events like Hurricane Katrina and personalities such as Nelson Mandela.
The AP said the three-year, nonexclusive deal, announced Wednesday, is aimed at making some AP Archive footage available to sectors the news cooperative has not traditionally targeted, such as advertising firms.
Alwyn Lindsey, head of video archives for Associated Press Television News, said partnering with Getty made more sense than building an internal sales and marketing force to sell to those industries.
"We took the view that partnering with Getty basically allowed us to leverage their sales force and leverage their profile, particularly in those markets," Lindsey said Thursday.
AP Archive's clientele has mainly been television networks, documentary film makers and others needing archival news footage, including organizations such as the Discovery Channel and National Geographic. It also has supplied footage for the movies "Munich" and "Fahrenheit 9/11."
The deal will allow AP to continue its own sales and marketing efforts. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Seattle-based Getty will only have access to a selection of video, all more than seven days old, said Karen McLaughlin, Getty's director of image partner development. McLaughlin said Getty expects to distribute footage primarily to commercial and corporate customers who are looking for video from iconic news events to illustrate a certain point.
"We are not going to pretend to be a breaking news footage service," she said.
Since the beginning of the year, Getty has bulked up its film offerings considerably, signing deals with eight organizations including the AP. McLaughlin said the company is seeing growing interest in using video footage online and for mobile devices, in addition to the more traditional corporate and commercial uses.
AP and Getty also compete against each other in the still photography business, but Lindsey said that wasn't really an issue in negotiating this deal because the sales operations of those two AP units are handled separately.
Both companies also compete with Seattle-based Corbis Corp., which was founded in 1989 by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and also distributes video and still photography.
The AP and Microsoft Corp. offer a service, called the Online Video Network, which allows the news cooperative's member Web sites to offer free video news clips and share in advertising revenue generated from the service.
Founded in 1995 by Mark Getty and Jonathan Klein, Getty Images shares began trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market in February 1998 and moved to the New York Stock Exchange in November 2002. Getty is the grandson of Getty Oil founder J. Paul Getty and an heir to the Getty fortune.
Getty said in July that its second-quarter profit fell 35 percent because of rising costs and stock-option expenses, sending Getty shares to a new 52-week low. Getty shares rose 17 cents to $45.39 in afternoon trading Thursday on the NYSE, but they have fallen nearly 50 percent so far this year.
Headquartered in London, AP Archive includes about 500,000 film and video reports, going back to 1896, on news, sports and entertainment topics. In addition to the AP's own feeds, the archive also has nonexclusive deals to license some footage on behalf of other organizations, including ABC America, Britain's Sky News, Vatican TV and the United Nations. Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
Copyright 2006 AFX News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
