The Associated Press is pushing up to 250 news videos through its YouTube channel every week, according to Beet.tv.

Though it launched little over a month ago the channel already has 1,671 videos, edited packages and raw footage of events, stored online for users to watch and drop into their own sites and blogs – although breaking news seems to be kept off the channel.

Kevin Roach, executive producer of AP Online Video, told Beet.tv: “Licensing content to these outlets is a way of protecting the value of AP’s news in an environment where it is easy for a user to post our content without permission or payment. Showcasing video clips on You Tube is in keeping with AP’s board-approved commercial strategy to protect our intellectual property and to help AP offset the costs of its global newsgathering operation. We’re monitoring our foray into social media closely.”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw8GZifExFk]