Associated Press to digitise video archive
February 22, 2012
The Associated Press is working with Prime Focus Technologies (PFT) to digitise its unique video archive, making it available to a whole new audience across digital platforms. AP’s film and tape archive contains around 70,000 hours’ worth of footage, including more than 1.3 million global news and entertainment stories, in 16mm film and videotape, dating back to the beginning of the 20th Century.
The project is part of AP’s multimillion-dollar upgrade to its video business which will see AP switch its entire newsgathering, production and distribution systems to HD to continue to meet the technical, editorial and business needs of its customers in the digital age.
PFT will use the unique skillsets of its global organisation to digitise AP’s film and tape archive, then catalogue, manage, transcode and deliver AP’s content to a multi-media audience. PFT has decades of experience in digitising archive content, partnering with organisations such as the British Movietone Library, British Film Institute, Imperial War Museum, IMG, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Eros International.