The ACM network will retain close to 90% of its audience and almost 6.9 million* readers across its key print and digital assets as it adjusts part of its publishing operations to weather the coronavirus crisis.
This claim comes from the regional publisher after it shutdown many of its non-daily titles recently.
The audience modelling comes as ACM’s 14 daily newspapers, including The Canberra Times and the Newcastle Herald, unite today to send a powerful front-page thank you message to Australia’s army of front-line healthcare workers.
Under the headline ‘Thank you all’, the publications feature the faces of 14 courageous local health workers from across NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT who are helping in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
ACM’s daily mastheads, which also include The Border Mail, Illawarra Mercury, Bendigo Advertiser, Ballarat’s The Courier and Launceston’s The Examiner, and its leading agricultural weeklies such as The Land and Queensland Country Life are unaffected by temporary printing changes taking effect from April 20.
ACM chief marketing officer Paul Tyrrell said: “Messages like our thank you to public health workers will continue to reach a very large audience with the latest EMMA readership data showing ACM would now reach about 6.9 million* Australians each month as we temporarily suspend printing of some of our non-daily newspapers.”
Tyrrell added ACM would continue to provide essential news coverage to digital subscribers and that “ACM is committed to its role as the trusted voice of the areas in which we operate and we will be working to keep those communities connected and informed”.
ACM also highlighted Nielsen digital audience numbers: “March Nielsen data showed over 5.5 million** UAs, which was 30% up from February and 42% up on the same time last year, which continues our upward trajectory in audience volumes,” Tyrrell said.
ACM chief revenue officer Tony Kendall added that ACM’s network of local audiences were loyal and highly engaged. “We are open for business and we have the audience volumes and the trusted environments to help our clients deliver their message to markets,” Kendall said.
Customer-focused initiatives have been put in place to help businesses through this challenging time including an E-commerce Small Business solution aimed at helping local traders who usually rely on foot traffic to operate in a remote digital landscape.
“We have a plug and play integrated solution at highly discounted rates to help small businesses navigate their way into the exciting opportunities e-commerce presents,” Kendall said.
“To support local businesses trying to communicate with customers and help readers stay across changing trading hours and restrictions, ACM has also launched a free Open for Business portal across all websites, which has proven to be a real hit with clients and readers alike.”
ACM’s online network continues its free rolling coverage of local, state and national COVID-19 related news and information to ensure audiences are as well-informed as possible on government updates on public health and safety as well as income support programs.
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Source: *EmmaTM conducted by IPSOS MediaCT: Jan-Dec 2019, ACM portfolio monthly total (print & digital, deduplicated)
** Nielsen Digital Content Ratings, March 2020