Australians are reading more news media content on digital platforms, with digital newspaper readership growing by 3% year on year to 11.6 million each month. The growth has been led by mobile and tablet readership, up 11% and 6% respectively, today’s emma (Enhanced Media Metrics Australia) data for the 12 months to March 2015 has shown.
Print and digital newspaper readership remains stable at 16.3 million and newspaper media reaches 92% of the population (79% for print, 65% for digital).
Printed newspaper readership has declined 3% year on year as consumers continue their migration to digital platforms. Printed newspapers, however, continue to contribute the largest audience, with 14.1 million readers, or 79% of the population.
“The trend is now clear that consumers of newspaper media want access to news and information on the move and are using more devices to suit their needs. Digital readership growth on PCs and desktops is starting to slow, while mobiles and tablets continue their strong growth, up by 350,000 and 135,000 year on year respectively,” The Newspaper Works CEO Mark Hollands said.
The Sydney Morning Herald has the highest cross-platform readership with 5.4 million readers, followed by The Daily Telegraph on 4.4 million and the Herald Sun on 4.1 million.
Comparing cross-platform readership penetration by state or territory, the Northern Territory News has overtaken the Adelaide Advertiser for the highest reach percentage. Over a four-week period, 82% of people in the Northern Territory read a print or digital copy of the Northern Territory News, slightly more than the 81% of South Australians who are cross-platform readers of The Advertiser.
The Herald Sun edges out The West Australian for third place, reaching 72% of Victorians, compared with The West Australian’s 71%.
The Herald Sun Monday-Friday remains the most-read printed newspaper (average issue readership) with 1.35 million readers, followed by The Sunday Telegraph with 1.2 million readers and the Saturday Herald Sun with 1.11 million readers.
Don’t miss the print or digital edition of Mediaweek magazine out tomorrow with full details of digital and print readership plus newspaper and weekly magazine circulations.