News media is now consumed by 88% of Australians as they continue to seek out trusted news, entertainment and information.
Of the 16.3 million people who read news media, 13.1 million consume digital news and 12.1 million (66% of the population) read newspapers, according to the latest emma (Enhanced Media Metrics Australia) for July 2018, released today.
Metro newspapers are read by 10 million people, or 54% of consumers. Meanwhile, one-third of the population (5.8 million) reads regional and community news media brands.
In addition to the industry currency readership data, emma CMV2 provides insights into Australian consumers’ product purchases, behaviour and attitudes. This data has revealed that Australians are becoming more discerning, with three in four Australians (74% aged 14+) seeking quality over price when it comes to their purchases. A greater proportion of men (77%) agree with this than women (72%).
One in two Australians now believe that stores’ own brand products offer equal quality to well-known brands. More women (51%) agree with this than men (44%).
NewsMediaWorks CEO Peter Miller said: “The inexorable rise of the ubiquitous smartphone device will continue to drive digital readership of our news media as people seek their trusted news brands on the go and in the palm of their hands. This equips publishers with compelling commercial opportunities in cross-platform brand and content propositions, which is a terrific, positive outcome.
“It’s interesting to note that consumers overwhelmingly say they value quality over price. This is also clearly reflected in the news media sector where digital subscriptions are growing because of the trust that authoritative, credible journalism commands. The Galaxy data from the ADTRUST study demonstrates that greater trust in a media channel positively impacts purchase intent.”
This is the fifth month of emma cross-platform readership data to come from Nielsen in a new strategic collaboration announced in May.
Under the new arrangement, Nielsen leads the fusion process that brings together the industry-accredited print readership data from Ipsos and Nielsen’s IAB-accredited digital audience data to deliver a total audience readership figure. Nielsen Consumer & Media View (CMV) is fused to the emma cross-platform data to provide critical product and attitudinal data.
The Sydney Morning Herald continued to be Australia’s highest-reaching title across all platforms with 5.03 million readers. The Herald Sun followed, reaching 4.02 million readers, and then The Daily Telegraph on 3.83 million.
