United Press International Television News
Encyclopedia
Successor to earlier UPI television
news
film
operations, United Press International Television News, abbreviated as UPITN, was a television news agency, operating from 1967 to 1985. United Press International Television News and Visnews
were the two largest and most important television news agencies at the time. UPITN was at the forefront of international newsgathering and had a vast network of foreign bureaux around the world with film crews capturing images of the events and people that defined the era.
United Press International Television News descended from United Press Movietone and United Press International Newsfilm. In 1985, after UPI sold its interest, it was renamed Worldwide Television News
, or WTN. In 1998 WTN was bought out by the Associated Press
, to become Associated Press Television News
.
and Fox-Movietone
to shoot newsfilm for television stations was announced on July 13, 1948. United Press Movietone, or UPMT, was pioneering in providing a dedicated newsfilm service to television stations in the United States. UPMT introduced crucial innovations and procedures that became intrinsic to the business of motion picture newsgathering for television. UPMT grew steadily and became the first television news agency to operate on a truly international level with the BBC
as its first European client. In 1958, an auxiliary service, originally called UPI Audio
, was created to make newsmaker and reporter audio from the film service available to UPI radio
clients.
, which acquired WTN. It is managed through APTN's stock footage licensing division, AP Archive. Although the films themselves have been well preserved, the numerous pieces of text catalogue that accompanied them were scattered across various locations in the UK and US. The text catalogue is essential as it identifies what footage is held in each film can and without it, the archive has been virtually inaccessible since the day the films were first produced. Twenty-thousand film cans containing 3,500 hours of international news footage have been lying dormant for decades deep underground in the Central London bunker. AP Archive assembled a team of archival researchers to create a coherent online text database. The films themselves are being cleaned and restored by Éclair Laboratoires of Paris, and then transferred onto high definition videotape for use by professional producers.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
news
News
News is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.- Etymology :...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
operations, United Press International Television News, abbreviated as UPITN, was a television news agency, operating from 1967 to 1985. United Press International Television News and Visnews
Visnews
Visnews was a London-based international news agency. By 1992 it was owned by NBC News , BBC and Reuters, until Reuters bought out the remaining shares of the company that year...
were the two largest and most important television news agencies at the time. UPITN was at the forefront of international newsgathering and had a vast network of foreign bureaux around the world with film crews capturing images of the events and people that defined the era.
United Press International Television News descended from United Press Movietone and United Press International Newsfilm. In 1985, after UPI sold its interest, it was renamed Worldwide Television News
Associated Press Television News
Associated Press Television News, abbreviated as either AP Television News or APTN, is a global video news agency.-About:AP Television News is the video division of the Associated Press. It provides many of the world's broadcasters with a round-the-clock continuous feed of news, sports,...
, or WTN. In 1998 WTN was bought out by the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, to become Associated Press Television News
Associated Press Television News
Associated Press Television News, abbreviated as either AP Television News or APTN, is a global video news agency.-About:AP Television News is the video division of the Associated Press. It provides many of the world's broadcasters with a round-the-clock continuous feed of news, sports,...
.
United Press Movietone
The agreement between United PressUnited Press International
United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
and Fox-Movietone
Movietone News
Movietone News is a newsreel that ran from 1928 to 1963 in the United States, and from 1929 to 1979 in the United Kingdom.-History:It is known in the U.S. as Fox Movietone News, produced cinema, sound newsreels from 1928 to 1963 in the U.S., from 1929 to 1979 in the UK , and from 1929 to 1975 in...
to shoot newsfilm for television stations was announced on July 13, 1948. United Press Movietone, or UPMT, was pioneering in providing a dedicated newsfilm service to television stations in the United States. UPMT introduced crucial innovations and procedures that became intrinsic to the business of motion picture newsgathering for television. UPMT grew steadily and became the first television news agency to operate on a truly international level with the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
as its first European client. In 1958, an auxiliary service, originally called UPI Audio
United Press International Radio Network
Originally named "UPI Audio," the United Press International Radio Network was an audio actuality news service for radio and television stations from then-major wire service United Press International....
, was created to make newsmaker and reporter audio from the film service available to UPI radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
clients.
United Press International Newsfilm
On 30 September 1963 UPI and Movietone ended their partnership. Movietone briefly stayed in the theatrical newsreel field while UPI set up a new corporate entity, UPI-Newsfilm (UPIN,) with headquarters in London and New York. UPIN took on staff cameramen around the world, very often former Movietone staff, now on the UPI payroll. The client list continued to expand as new stations around the world commenced broadcasting.United Press International Television News / UPITN
UPI, having broken away from Movietone, believed it essential to team up with another major partner. The pressure to find a big client/partner increased when UPIN lost its BBC contract. ITN was the obvious choice, but it took four years before UPI actually joined with ITN to form UPITN in June 1967. The company entered its most prolific decade. UPI, however, was plagued by financial difficulties that had negative consequences for UPITN. In the early eighties, UPI sold off its last shares of UPITN, and the company name was changed to Worldwide Television News (WTN) soon thereafter.Legacy Newsfilm
The copyright to the UPIN/UPITN archive is held by Associated Press Television NewsAssociated Press Television News
Associated Press Television News, abbreviated as either AP Television News or APTN, is a global video news agency.-About:AP Television News is the video division of the Associated Press. It provides many of the world's broadcasters with a round-the-clock continuous feed of news, sports,...
, which acquired WTN. It is managed through APTN's stock footage licensing division, AP Archive. Although the films themselves have been well preserved, the numerous pieces of text catalogue that accompanied them were scattered across various locations in the UK and US. The text catalogue is essential as it identifies what footage is held in each film can and without it, the archive has been virtually inaccessible since the day the films were first produced. Twenty-thousand film cans containing 3,500 hours of international news footage have been lying dormant for decades deep underground in the Central London bunker. AP Archive assembled a team of archival researchers to create a coherent online text database. The films themselves are being cleaned and restored by Éclair Laboratoires of Paris, and then transferred onto high definition videotape for use by professional producers.
External links
- Downhold.Org—UPI Alum site
- UPI's Trail of Tears—subset of above: UPI history and memories
- The Downhold Project—collaborative UPI history project site
- AP Archive
- Associated Press website
- Fox Movietone
- UPITN & ITN archive footage