WFXL-TV in Albany, Georgia, has switched to iPads from paper scripts that anchors read on set, reports “Poynter Online” (http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=2&aid=182192). To change pages, anchors just swipe their fingers across the screen.
To add scripts, producers print them to a PDF and send the PDF to an iPad e-mail account. Terry Graham, news director/anchor at WFXL, told “Poynter Online” that the station bought the iPads because it expects to save thousands in paper expenses. The move, he said, is not part of a promotion or partnership with Apple.
On average, Graham says, his station spends $2,000 a month on paper and printer repairs, says “Poynter Online.” Once he began thinking about the potential savings for the 15 stations owned by his company, Barrington Broadcasting, the experiment seemed worthwhile.