Tablet is the device for night-time

A new study by the Reynolds Journalism Institute, a partnership with the University of Missouri, has identified what almost everyone else had noticed. When it comes to consuming news, a vast majority in the US prefers to use their tablets at night after work while sitting on the couch at home.

During the day, smartphones are used to check the headlines.

For journalists the good news in this survey is that consuming news through a tablet is most popular among the age group of 18-34 years.

But the survey also reveals that owners of mobile media devices are diverse. Users access such devices not just for news, but also for entertainment, social media and personal utility applications.

The study also reveals that young adults are seriously interested in consuming news provided by news organisations.

The CNN news app, for instance, tops the charts for both smartphone and tablet news consumers.

The New York Times app ranked second with large media tablet news consumers, and also tied for second place with the Fox Cable News app with smartphone news consumers.

About 60 per cent of tablets users consider their experience of consuming news on their tablets better than reading a printed newspaper. Fifty per cent of owners who favoured smartphones said, their experience consuming news on their smartphones was better than reading a newspaper.

Some news organisations such as ABC News are available in three editions based on what time of the day it is.

“We saw that our iPad users were most heavily using the app between 7pm and 10pm. And with that we decided to enhance the user experience based on what time of the day it is,” points out Joe Ruffolo, Tabtimes’ (online magazine) senior vice-president of ABC News Digital.

As a result, ABC News has split its news app into three editions — Morning, Mid-day and Primetime.