AFP Adds Video to its 2008 Beijing Olympics & Euro Championship Coverage

Paris (March 31st 2008) – Agence France-Presse, one of the world’s leading news agencies, is introducing a new video feature to its product line for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the UEFA Euro 2008 championship, enhancing its extensive coverage of the world’s top sporting events.

Many international clients have signed up for AFP’s bundled products which were launched well ahead of the actual events to provide time for seamless integration. The current AFP product line-up includes: traditional wire services (text, photos and graphics) and multimedia products (dedicated mini-websites, web content, Flash™ sports animations).

Now, clients have the option of adding the video feature into both existing Beijing and Euro packages, or subscribing to video products for these events separately. The videos will showcase interviews, press conferences, reactions to the competitions and more.

“Our customers have been asking for video. By adding it, we have assembled an attractive package by integrating new media content with our traditional products. We believe that this is the ideal combination to draw in more sports fans to our clients’ websites,” said Eric Axelson, AFP’s Marketing Manager for sports.

The products offered for these two events contain top stories, photos and real-time results, in ready-to-publish formats. Customers can create their own pages from the raw content or purchase ready-made, customizable websites built by AFP.

Other AFP products for these upcoming events include: an interactive, real-time Flash™ application with optional embedded video for Euro 2008; factual animations on the 34 Olympic disciplines; illustrated biographies, team presentations, results feeds in XML, live tickers, and more.

All AFP multimedia services are fully compatible with advertising & statistics functionalities, and many of them provide text or video ad features, as well as enhanced personalization options.

For more information, please visit : www.afp.com/english/sport1/ or email us at mailto:afp-sport@afp.com

About AFP

AFP is a global news agency, delivering fast, accurate, in-depth coverage of the events shaping our world from wars and conflicts to politics, sports, entertainment and the latest breakthroughs in health, science and technology. With 2,900 staff and stringers spread across 165 countries, AFP covers the world 24 hours a day in six languages, delivering the news in video, text, photographs, multimedia and graphics.