Neilsen: Top ten media owners reach over half of Australians every month

As shutdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted the numbers for almost every aspect of society last year, 2020 was a boom year for digital content consumption.  As lockdowns meant that people spent more time at home, digitally active Australians engaged with a diverse range of content on platforms, communities, sites, and apps across screens, with an overall 19% increase in their digital time spent compared to 2019.

Digital Content Planning data endorsed by IAB Australia and released by Nielsen for the first time today demonstrates the huge number and diversity of media owners providing digital content and services. Nielsen measured Australian audiences to over 4,000 digital media owners and the new Nielsen Digital Content Planning audience data shows each of the top ten media owners reach over half of the Australian population each month.

A wide range of content and services are represented in the list of top twenty digital media owners (parents) released by Nielsen today including platforms, communities, news organisations, retailers, financial services, government, and entertainment providers each reaching over 9 million Australians a month​.​

Tech giants Google and Facebook place first and second on the list, but the top ten also includes media companies News Corp Australia at #4, Nine Entertainment Co. at #5, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation at #8. Australia’s most valuable brand, Woolworths, comes in at #9. 

Seven West Media, DMG Media, and Verizon Media all made the top twenty.

Digital content consumption measured by Nielsen covers mobile and computer devices, with 60% of adult Australians' online time spent on smartphones, 16% on tablets, and 23% on computer​s. In addition, viewing content on a connected TV has increased significantly throughout 2020: 7.3 million Australians access internet content on a connected TV daily, up 26% year on year​​.

Nielsen Digital Content Planning is a digital media planning tool that leverages respondent-level data across computer, smartphone, and tablet devices. It complements and extends upon the audience ranking and profiling capabilities of Nielsen Digital Content Ratings (DCR) and provides media planners with more advanced planning and research tools which support media buying and selling activities.