CNN ending use of AP content after 2 sides could not reach contract extension

CNN ends use of AP content as contract talks stall

NEW YORK — CNN said Monday that it’s no longer using Associated Press content after the two sides could not agree on a contract extension.

The AP confirmed that the two news organizations differed on terms for licensing AP stories, photos, video and other content beyond the June 30 expiration of the existing contract. CNN has been an AP customer since the cable network launched in 1980.

AP and CNN officials would not comment on why the talks broke down or how much the expiring contract was worth. CNN spokesman Nigel Pritchard would only say that the terms AP was offering “did not fit our business model.”

“We will no longer use AP materials or services,” CNN Worldwide President Jim Walton told employees in an internal memo Monday. “The content we offer will be distinctive, compelling and, I am proud to say, our own.”

CNN has a new arrangement with Reuters, an AP competitor owned by Thomson Reuters Corp., to supplement breaking news coverage, Walton said. Walton also said CNN will be expanding the staff of CNN Wires, a service it has been developing for sale to other news organizations.

“It is unfortunate that CNN’s viewers will no longer have access to the breaking news and worldwide reporting resources of The Associated Press,” AP spokesman Paul Colford said in a statement.

AP is a global news company founded in 1846. It serves about 1,500 newspapers and 5,000 radio and television stations in the United States. About 1,300 of them are regular members and more than 4,000 are associate members — generally weekly newspapers and broadcasters.

With traditional media companies facing an advertising slump and rising competition on the Web, the AP has come under pressure from its members to cut rates. It lowered its fees for U.S. newspapers by $30 million in 2009 and plans a $45 million cut for newspapers and broadcasters this year.

CNN, which is owned by the media conglomerate Time Warner Inc., faces its own challenges. It has struggled to compete in prime-time ratings, with cable news watchers turning to more opinionated shows on other cable TV networks. Nielsen Co. said CNN’s weekday prime-time viewership during the first three months of the year was down 42 percent from 2009.