According to the Ipsos iris January 2025 rankings, News Corp Australia (NCA) leads as the nation’s top news and information publisher. The publisher reached 17.642 million online Australians in January – that’s up 2.7 per cent month-on-month and outpacing its nearest competitor by 1.4 million, a gap that widened by 72 per cent compared to the previous month.
In the video sector, NCA continues to lead, with audience numbers growing by more than 6 per cent month-on-month.
Additional metrics show the company’s news network attracted 14.031 million users and generated 539 million browser page views – that’s up 11.5 per cent month-on-month. With an engaged reach of 38.44 page views per person (a 15.4 per cent increase) and an average time spent of 47 minutes and 24 seconds per user, the publisher also delivered 2.13 million viewers and 65 million video views, setting a high standard in audience engagement.
Free news and lifestyle editor-in-chief Mick Carroll said: “Our newsroom strategy over the summer period has proved immensely successful. January is traditionally a quieter month and with that in mind we increased our focus on local news coverage, explainers and original in-depth stories.
We were also hyperfocused on leveraging our suite of content from entertainment and sport to lifestyle, food and travel. All of these things have made a real difference in ensuring we continue to deliver deeper engagement with our audiences.”
Managing Director and Publisher Free News and Lifestyle Pippa Leary.
Managing director and publisher free news and lifestyle Pippa Leary said: “The editorial teams’ focus on engaging our core audiences has driven a real lift in our engagement and engaged reach statistics. Readers come to our homepages every day, deliberately choosing to engage with our content, ensuring that our clients’ campaigns benefit from wide exposure and deep audience interaction.”
Top digital positions
Six of News’ brands have secured spots in the top 25 sites for the News category, reflecting robust digital performance across its portfolio. Leading the pack, News.com.au reached an audience of 11.759 million, with 311 million browser page views and an average of 26.51 page views per user – its highest engagement in two years.
Other key properties include The Australian at 3.563 million, SkyNews.com.au with 3.549 million, Herald Sun at 3.350 million, The Daily Telegraph reaching 3.026 million, and The Courier-Mail drawing 2.894 million users.
Lifestyle leaders
In the lifestyle category, taste.com.au topped the chart with an audience of 4.841 million, following closely is news.com.au – lifestyle, which reaches 4.329 million users.
Within the Lifestyle (Fashion, Style & Beauty) sub-category, Vogue.com.au leads in both audience size and browser page views, reinforcing its reputation as the go-to destination for fashion and beauty brands looking to capture engaged consumers.
Sporting surge
News.com.au – Sports dominated the digital arena with 3.897 million users and an impressive engaged reach of 6.03 browser page views per person – up 23.8% from the previous month.
Meanwhile, CODE Sports cements its place in the top 10, boasting an audience of 1.657 million – a robust 33.2% jump month-on-month.
Travel takes off
News.com.au – Travel tops the category, capturing an audience of 2.594 million. Escape.com.au follows with a solid 1.125 million.
Pictured: Mick Carroll