NPR News app among the most highly rated by iPad users

The application that NPR created for the launch of Apple's iPad has received the highest user ratings among the apps offered by major American news organizations, according to this analysis by Newsosaur Alan Mutter. NPR's app ranks sixth among the top ten news applications in terms of downloads, but iPad users give the content and experience an average rating of 3.5 stars, higher than apps created by USA Today (3.0), the New York Times (2.5) and the Wall Street Journal (2.5). The BBC and France 24, the international news channel funded by the French government, received user ratings of 3.5 and 4.0, respectively, and Mutter believes that the rich-media iPad experience offered by broadcasters has an advantage over newsprint publishers. Mutter warns not to judge publishers by their inaugural iPad applications: they didn't have much time to design for the new platform, and they didn't want to invest heavily in a device that might turn out to be a "dud." He adds: "If the first month is any indication, however, the iPad could be a bigger hit than the iPhone. Apple said it sold 1 million units in the first 30 days, as compared with the 74 days it took to sell the first million iPhones. And a new study shows iPad users are twice as likely to be interested in general, financial and sports news than the average American. Now that it looks as though publishers are playing with live ammo, they need to get serious about planning iPad strategies."