William Dudor was the New
York Bureau Chief for the Worldwide Television
News which was the leader in providing
television footage when the program was
videotaped in February of 1988. The agency was
purchased by AP in 1998.
New York Times. Business
A.P. Buys Worldwide Television News
Published: Wednesday, June 3, 1998
The Associated Press, the worldwide news agency,
said yesterday that it had bought Worldwide
Television News for an undisclosed amount from
the ABC News division of Walt Disney and two
other companies.
ABC's stake accounted for 80 percent of
Worldwide Television News. The A.P. said it was
buying the remaining 20 percent from the Nine
Network Australia and ITN London, which each
hold 10 percent. Reports from London had
speculated that Disney planned to sell Worldwide
Television News for $50 million.
The A.P. said ABC News was also entering into a
several-year deal with APTV, A.P.'s
international video agency, for subscription to
its service. ABC's news service, News One, will
provide material to APTV.
Worldwide has faced competition since the A.P.
began its television news operation in 1994.
Associated Press Television News, known as
either AP Television News or APTN, is a global
video news agency. AP Television News is the
video division of the Associated Press. It
provides many of the world 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. In 1998 it merged with
Worldwide Television News (WTN). At the time of
the merger, WTN was owned by American
broadcaster "ABC" which itself had recently been
purchased by the Disney corporation. Originally
though, it was a subsidiary of the British news
broadcaster Independent Television News (ITN)
and formerly known as UPITN as it was a joint
venture between ITN and United Press
International.
