The Associated Press announced Thursday that it suffered serious losses in revenue and profit in 2009, but it also underscored the fact that it won't take the declines lying down. During its annual meeting the news agency announced the expansion of its AP Gateway initiative through the launch of their News Registry and a niche website for college football fans.

The bleak financial records included a nearly 10 percent drop in revenue, now down to $676.1 million, and a 65 percent fall in net income, bringing it to $8.8 million. Much of this was the result of offering lower rates to its member newspapers, who were also suffering from reduced revenue as a result of the media crisis.

To alleviate some of the pressure created by falling revenues, the AP cut staff and dropped its payroll expenses by 10 percent last year, and managed to cut debt by $1 million in 2009. But as the Board of the AP announced on Thursday, it also plans to innovate to find new sources for revenue.

The AP hopes to take better advantage of search engines and lessen its dependence on third-party sites by making its product more versatile and easily distributable across a wide range of media.

"Within a year, we will be in a position, as an industry, to play on any device and build audiences with our own tools and products," said Chairman of the Board Dean Singleton.

Thus far, the AP hopes to build audiences and better serve its member newspapers with the AP Registry, which offers members the opportunity to better follow where their content is being used and spread throughout the web. Member newspapers will be able to set copyright restrictions on their content that dictates how other members can use that content.

"Beyond analytics, the Registry also will set the stage for a new way of doing business as a Cooperative," said AP President and CEO Tom Curley.

Following the trend of niche news sites, the AP's college football website will offer readers more in-depth coverage of their favorite teams, based on the AP's Top 25 rankings. With extended statistics, photos, and social networking capabilities, the football site is the newest creation out of the AP Gateway initiative.

In the future, the AP hopes to implement a pay model and a premium application for mobile use, to help increase revenue and offer member papers a new way to share their content. Though the AP is suffering from losses, their impulse to keep moving forward is one that will keep them afloat during even the worst times.

Source: AP