News media is read by nine in 10 Australians, or 16.75 million of the adult population, in print and on digital devices, according to the latest emma (Enhanced Media Metrics Australia) data released this week.
News media readership remained steady during the month of June, reaching 93% of the adult population and consumption of news media on desktops/laptops, mobiles and tablets reached 13.2m people, or 73% of the population.
In addition, 13.7m people, or 76% of the population, read a newspaper in the past four weeks. Metropolitan newspapers continued to dominate the news media sector, reaching 63% of the population, or 11.3m readers. Regional newspapers reached 3.4m readers (19%) while national titles delivered a combined print audience of 2.34m.
More than 2.1m people commute to work by rail, ferry and bus across the five capital cities every month and 94% of these commuters engage with news media. Digital news media is read by 81% of commuters.
Australian Regional Media CEO Neil Monaghan, Fairfax Media CEO Greg Hywood, News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller, Standard Media Index managing director Jane Schulze and NewsMediaWorks CEO Mark Hollands
NewsMediaWorks CEO Mark Hollands said news publishers continued to deliver large, engaged, quality audiences, including the important commuter audience.
“Digital news media is an ideal and important platform for reaching metro commuters on their way to and from work each day at a time when they are looking to be entertained and informed. News media is powerful when it comes to connecting advertisers with this audience and influencing their decision making,” Hollands said.
“The stability of news media readership further demonstrates that our audience is loyal and engaged with quality, influential and trusted journalism.”
According to the emma data for the 12 months to June 2016, The Sydney Morning Herald is Australia’s highest-reaching title across all platforms with 6.06m readers. The Daily Telegraph followed, reaching 4.63m readers, and the Herald Sun on 4.24m.
