Industry marketing body Think News Brands has released the latest Total News readership that reveals the size of the audience engaging with the news media channel every month.
The data comes from Roy Morgan and covers the 12 months ending June 30, 2023. The reach figures represent not just print and digital readership from traditional newspaper publishers, but also digital publishers including ABC, The Guardian, Facebook, Google and Apple.
The figures continue to show that just short of all Australians 14+ continue to engage with news brands monthly. The figure for the 12-month period sits at 96%. The audience reach of the publishers has remained constant despite significant drops in consumer confidence in the past three years.
The research also indicates that more people read news than those watching and listening to news.
Readership: Top 10 news brands
The audiences for the major news brands show that five of the top 10 have 4-week average audiences over 4m. Leading the top 10 again is Nine’s The Sydney Morning Herald on 7.5m and then The Age on 5.1m. News Corp then has five of the next seven most-read titles led by the Herald Sun and The Australian both on 4.2m each.
New data reveals category breakdown
For the first time, Think News Brands is releasing readership data gathered by Roy Morgan that shows the size of the audience engaging with nine different content categories.
News remains by far the biggest at just over 20m. Every category has an audience of 5m or more and six on the nine each boast a total audience over 10m.
Property and Sport are both read by over 60% of the population, while Lifestyle & Health and Entertainment & Culture both break above 50%.
Travel continues to be a magnet for audiences and advertisers, with 30% of the population reading travel content.
The data shows Australian news readers are highly engaged, with 50% of consumers considered heavy users of the channel.
Think News Brands said most news audiences are diverse readers, with 70% reading three or more categories in addition to general, breaking news content.
Vanessa Lyons, executive general manager of Think News Brands added, “Aussies eagerly embrace news content in all forms, spanning diverse topics and moments throughout the day. These latest audience figures reaffirm that Total News is a consistently dependable media component for advertisers.”
Special interest news appeals to early adopters, who are at least 20% more likely than the general population to buy new model cars and be aware of the latest financial products.
Attractive audience for advertisers
Total News readers are economically resilient in today’s uncertain economic climate according to Think News Brands.
Social scientist Dr Ross Honeywill has coined the term “Super NEOs” (or super premium consumers) and Roy Morgan reports news media over indexes with the lucrative consumer segment which marketers can engage with.
According the Roy Morgan, these consumers are 2.4x more likely than the average Australian to earn over $250,000 per year, and three times more likely to invest and spend their money compared to other demographics.
Those consumers are 30% more likely than the general population to read Total News over mainstream media according to the research.
Six in 10 readers are paying to access written news content. Those paying news readers are 20% more likely than the general population to be homeowners and big spenders. Around 70% of these readers intend to travel in the next 12 months.
Tracking reading habits
The readership research indicates more than half engage with news before midday, with a steady stream of news consumption continuing throughout the day.
Demographically, Total News engages all age groups from 14-24 through to 65+, reaching 96% and 97% of 25-34 and 35-49-year-old demographics respectively.
Lyons added: “Marketers and brands are increasingly looking for ways to both engage and drive action with audiences. The latest Total News figures should instil confidence in Australian advertisers that Total News is a lucrative, commercially effective channel for brands to do just that. While the current Australian economic climate is an uncertain one, these figures show that Total News remains a critical element for success in the advertising toolkit.”
See also: ThinkNewsBrands and Roy Morgan data for 12 months ending March 2023
Source: Roy Morgan, All People 14+. All audience data is based on the last 4 weeks averaged over the 12 months to June 2023. Total News is defined as Australians aged 14+ reading news in print and/or news in digital. Digital news includes Australian publishers’ news websites/apps, Apple News, and non-Australian-owned news. It also includes ABC News and Google News. All figures based on Total News definition except category reach which includes Total News Publishing. Total News audience measurement is independently audited by media research specialist auditor Dr Rob Hall from Environmetrics.