A little over a year ago, Fox News debuted an iPhone app, and today the cable news network premieres on the iPad. Like the iPhone app, the iPad app is free.
The app features two primary horizontal panes, one with self-scrolling “happening now” stories, another that toggles between top stories, Fox News programs, favorites and a build-your-own video playlist.
Along the bottom of the screen, the app features a scrolling ticker — the first iPad news app we’ve seen with a TV-like ticker. There’s also a weather page customizable to your city.
Stories and videos appear similarly, shareable on Facebook, Twitter and email. You can “favorite” them and add videos to a playlist. While clips appear in embedded form, they’re playable full-screen.
In the upper left-hand corner, the app reminds you what show is airing live on Fox News on TV. While the app doesn’t offer live TV programming (for obvious licensing reasons), you can listen to Fox News Radio live — and the app will feature the occasional live event. We were unable to find any social viewing features, like Twitter or Facebook integration, which would be a great addition to the app.
So why wait until now to launch an iPad app? “We waited for the right moment,” Fox News VP Jeremy Steinberg told Mashable. “We want all of our products to be viable financially.” The app features Exxon as a launch sponsor spanning display ads to pre-rolls.