Newspapers digital audience up 9% to 11.4 million

•  Mobile leads the charge with 14% audience growth
•  Total newspaper media readership up by 2%

Consumer demand for news on the move has created strong audience growth on newspaper digital platforms, with more than 3 million users each month on mobile and tablet devices, a year-on-year increase of 14% and 9% respectively, emma (Enhanced Media Metrics Australia) data for the 12 months to February 2015 has revealed.

Newspaper audiences on mobile have reached 3.3 million, while tablet audiences now reach 3.1 million readers.

Total digital newspaper readership rose by 9% year on year, from 10.5 million people to 11.4 million. While print readership declined slightly by 2% year on year, total newspaper media readership rose by 2% over the same period to 16 million.

Total newspaper media readership has remained consistent with 92% of all Australians aged 14+ reading newspapers across platforms. Printed newspapers continue to contribute the largest audience, with 14.2 million readers, or 80% of the population.

“More than three quarters of our population now own a smartphone, which has doubled in the last four years, according to the Telstra Smartphone and Tablet Index. People are checking their smartphones up to 150 times a day and this is where newspapers play a vital role, with readers turning to trusted sources for breaking news and information on the go, wherever they are,” The Newspaper Works CEO Mark Hollands said.

The weekday Herald Sun remains Australia’s most-read paper with 1.38 million readers. It was followed by The Sunday Telegraph (1.23 million), the Saturday Herald Sun (1.14 million), the Sunday Herald Sun (1.11 million) and the Daily Telegraph (1.05 million).

In terms of average issue readership (AIR) for printed newspapers, the weekend newspapers have the highest readership, with the top three titles averaging more than one million readers.

Although newspapers in smaller states and territories have lower readership, they reach a higher percentage of people in their state/territory.

For example, an average weekday issue of the Northern Territory News is read by 38% of Territorians, the Adelaide Advertiser is read by 35% of South Australians and the West Australian is read by 33% of West Australians.

Tasmania has the highest penetration in printed newspapers, with 92% of Tasmanians reading a printed newspaper in the last four weeks. The Northern Territory has the highest digital penetration at 63%.

Source: The Newspaper Works