National newspapers have grown their readership for the third consecutive month with print readership up by 1% YOY.
According to the latest emma data for May 2018, the total cross-platform readership for Australia’s news media sector in May reached 16.4 million or 89% of the population (aged 14+).
News media readership on digital devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops rose by 3% to 13.3 million, or 72% of the population.
Newspapers are read by 12.3 million people each month, or 67% of Australians. Metro newspapers were read by 10 million people, or 55% of consumers, in May. Meanwhile, regional and community news media brands were read by 6.3 million people, or more than one-third of the population (34%).
NewsMediaWorks CEO Peter Miller said: “In the May readership data, it is encouraging to see ongoing pockets of growth in news media, which has also been reflected in the latest News Media Index for advertising revenue. It found that the industry’s decline in ad revenue has almost halved in the past quarter, with newspapers and news websites leading the positive revenue improvements. The News Media Index and latest emma data are further proof that news media brands are gaining ground with both readers and advertisers who want trusted news sources.”
The Sydney Morning Herald is Australia’s highest-reaching title across all platforms with 4.86 million readers. The Daily Telegraph followed, reaching 3.74 million readers and Herald Sun on 3.69 million (see table below).
This is the third 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. Nielsen Consumer & Media View (CMV) is fused to the emma cross-platform data to provide critical product and attitudinal data.
In addition to the readership data, emma CMV2 provides insights into Australian consumers’ product purchases and attitudes. The data has revealed that three in four Australians (13.9 million) are “concerned” or “very concerned” about the price of electricity. This has prompted 1.8 million people to change their electricity supplier in the last 12 months, and another 1.8 million say they are likely to change their supplier in the next two months.
Miller said: “When it comes to the electricity providers, news media reaches 90% of those people who say that they plan to switch providers in the next two months. There is no better way to reach this important group of Australians to help inform their views than news media, the most trusted media channel for both content and ads.”