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The Associated Press, the world's largest and oldest news agency, and STATS LLC, the world's leading sports information company, are launching new products - Summer Games and Summer Games Plus - to help broadcasters, newspapers and Web sites cover the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
AP members will continue to receive thorough Olympic coverage as part of their core service. Called Summer Games, it will include top stories and photos from the Beijing games on AP's text wires and on AP's Hosted Web platform, which currently services 750 news organizations worldwide.
AP and STATS also are offering an exclusive premium service, Summer Games Plus, which will be available for print, broadcast and/or online use. Customers will be able to create their own online presentation from feeds, or they may take advantage of an online hosted platform built and operated by STATS.
Summer Games Plus will include additional stories, photos, columns, statistical data and multimedia, as well as certain text content provided by NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. The statistical data for Summer Games Plus will be more detailed and in-depth than the core service, and will come via STATS, the leading provider of sports data.
AP plans to staff the Beijing Games with more than 300 journalists. STATS also will complement AP's coverage with news and features leading up to the games, and will be on-site in Beijing next August. Summer Games Plus begins today and will increase with content as the games approach.
All of the services for U.S. customers will include video links to exclusive NBC Sports and NBC Olympics video on NBCOlympics.com. The Associated Press and NBC recently announced that AP is the exclusive news agency for the distribution of certain text content from NBC Sports and NBC Olympics and the video links. Customers outside the United States will not receive the video links because of international restrictions.
"The products from STATS and the AP will provide customers a variety of services to meet their needs for the 2008 games," said Lou Ferrara, AP's deputy managing editor for sports and multimedia.
"STATS' experience in redistributing and supplementing AP's top-notch coverage uniquely position us to help produce this service, and the result will be a comprehensive Olympic package that any competitive news site would be hard-pressed to do without," said Brian Orefice, STATS' director of news and editorial operations.
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.
About STATS LLC
With more than 25 years of experience in sophisticated sports data collection, processing and distribution - STATS is the world's leading sports information, content and statistical analysis company.
STATS offers a world-wide portfolio of sports information solutions - including the company's hallmark of real-time scores, historical sports information and turnkey fantasy sports operation along with AP editorial content, breaking sports news and photos.
STATS' innovative sports information solutions are utilized in numerous business segments: professional teams; sports broadcast production, cable and satellite networks; interactive television; broadband, wireless and internet; game developers and fantasy sports providers; print media and wire services.
STATS is owned jointly by the Associated Press and News Corporation, with corporate offices in Bangalore, Barcelona, Beijing, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Milan, Mumbai, Munster, New York, The Hague and Tokyo. www.stats.com
Source: Business Wire (Business Wire India)