Tonight on Fox31: Georgia TV station buys iPads for news anchors

Someone at Fox affiliate WFXL in Albany, GA must have had the brilliant insight that an iPad looks a lot like a pad of paper. That insight is going to save the TV station about $9,600 per year.

WFXL purchased 6 iPads to replace the paper scripts that their news anchors use. According to News Director and anchorman Terry Graham, the station is expected to save hundreds of thousands of sheets of paper every year. The scripts are composed in their usual manner, but instead of printing the files, they're now formatted as PDFs and emailed to the iPads.

The 16 GB iPads cost the station $499 each, but should pay for themselves in less than 4 months. Graham expects the station to purchase more iPads in the future, and once he's confirmed the savings he'll pass the word to other Fox stations. WFXL also has plans to use instant messaging to link producers and reporters, elicit viewer input through social media, and "enhance the way our journalists gather information."