• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, April 2, 2010

When the iPad finally arrives Saturday, it won't lack for apps from some of the biggest media players across print, TV and the Web. If the Apple tablet can't save media, it won't be because newspapers, magazines, TV networks and Web portals weren't on board from the outset. Here's a round-up of some of the media iPad apps already flooding the App Store:

Newspapers leading the charge onto the iPad include The New York Times and USA Today. The Times' Editors' Choice app offers two pages of content with the top eight to ten stories across the news, business, technology, opinion and feature sections from along with related videos and photo slideshows. Chase Sapphire, a rewards card for the "affluent market," is the exclusive launch sponsor of the new app developed by Medialets. It also features two new full-page interstitial ad units that users can shake or tilt their iPad to interact with.

The Editors' Choice offering is sort of a teaser -- the Times plans to later introduce a full, paid version of the app.

USA Today is launching on the iPad with a full version of the newspaper which it says is tailored to the device's "sleek format and vivid touch screen." The app's launch sponsor is Courtyard by Marriott, in what it calls "the first-ever digital extension of our hotel newspaper program." Like the Times, USA Today is initially offering its iPad app free. After the first 90 days, however, it will switch to a subscription basis. That's not surprising, given that President and Publisher Dave Hunke has in the past expressed regret about not charging for the newspaper's iPhone app. The subscription price hasn't been set yet.

Among the latest magazines betting on the iPad to survive into the 21st century is Men's Health. In addition to the usual fitness tips and feature stories, it will offer interactive extras like real-time polls, tie-ins to Twitter and Facebook, slide shows, and behind-the-scenes footage from magazine cover shoots. Reflecting the higher prices content companies are hoping to get on the iPad, Men's Health will charge $4.99 for each monthly issue. People will be able to preview a dozen pages from each new issue for free, however.

Cable TV companies may not have as much riding on the iPad as newspapers and magazines, but the larger tablet screen is an obvious draw. MTV Networks is jumping in with a quartet of iPad apps, bringing back "Beavis and Butt-head" in digital form, as well as apps for "Dora the Explorer," "VH1 Classic Presents" and a multimedia jigsaw puzzle., the "Beavis" and "Dora" apps sell for $4.99 and the VH1 app $2.99. Apps for "The Colbert Report" and "MTV News," among others, are in the works.

Discovery Communications, meanwhile, is banking on its hit show "Mythbusters" to grab the iPad audience. Its offering promises state-of-the-art interactive video, immersive game play and a "dynamic physics-based experience that will resonate with enthusiastic MythBusters fans" for $4.99. So you can try it at home after all.

Among big Internet names, Yahoo is debuting a free, entertainment-focused app for the iPad featuring television listings, videos, news, comics and original content from Yahoo Sports and other properties. The rumored Netflix app has also turned up in the App Store as part of a subscriber's unlimited membership.

While Netflix may have skipped the iPhone to go right to the iPad, The Onion Friday announced a new iPhone app, with plans to hit the iPad in the coming weeks. Sponsoring the satirical newspaper's iPhone app is Jack Link's Beef Jerky. Is that for real?