Digital newspaper readership up

Newspapers reach 92% of Australia’s metropolitan population – and nine in 10 Australians – every month, with digital editions continuing to achieve strong growth, according to the latest emma (Enhanced Media Metrics Australia) data for the 12 months to May 2015* released today.

Across print and digital platforms print newspaper media reach 16.4 million Australians over a four-week period, up 0.4% from 16.3 million in May 2014. While print readership declined 3.7% year-on-year (YOY) to 13.9 million readers, digital readership grew by 3.2% to 11.7 million.

National and metro print newspapers have the highest reach, with 14.3 million readers each month across print and digital platforms. Print editions reach 13.9 million readers, while national and metro digital content reach 11.3 million readers.

Regional and community newspapers remain vital to their communities. Each month 3.7 million Australians read regional newspaper media across all platforms, with 3.25 reading regional newspapers in their print and 5.3 million reading community newspapers.

Digital readership continues to grow, driven mainly by mobile with 453,000 additional readers (+15.2% YOY) in May 2015. Desktop/laptop and tablet audiences continue to rise, up 3.5% and 5.0% respectively YOY.

Mobile readership is heaviest among people aged 25-39, 38% of whom have consumed newspaper content on their mobile in the last four weeks, followed by under-25s (23%) and 40-54s (18%).

“Increasingly people want to access the latest news and information on the go, fuelling continued growth in mobile audiences which largely offsets the gradual decline in print readership. However emma data clearly shows the majority of Australians still prefer their newspaper in print,” said Mark Hollands, CEO of The Newspaper Works.

The Sydney Morning Herald retains Australia’s highest cross-platform readership with a total audience of 5.1 million readers followed by The Daily Telegraph with 4.10 million and the Herald Sun on 4.09 million.

The Herald Sun (Monday-Friday) retains the lead in average issue readership with 1.29 million followed by The Sunday Telegraph (1.12 million), the Saturday Herald Sun (1.09 million), the Sunday Herald Sun (1.05 million) and the Monday-Friday Daily Telegraph (990,000).

* Source: emmaTM, 12 months to May 2015. Readership based on last four weeks. Trends compared with 12 months to May 2014. Survey conducted by Ipsos MediaCT, people 14+, Nielsen Online Ratings, May 2015 and May 2014, people 14+ only.