Australians sought out a mix of more light-hearted entertainment and sports news content to balance the serious news events occurring locally and internationally, according to the Ipsos iris data for March.
Key celebrity and entertainment news, such as the AFL and NRL season launches, particularly the NRL Las Vegas event, the Sydney Mardi Gras parade, the Oscars winners and red carpet, and the final weeks of TV programs Married At First Sight and the Australian Idol winner grabbed the attention of Australian online news readers. Other more serious news, including Princess Katherine’s cancer diagnosis, the Matildas’ Sam Kerr’s alleged racial slur to a police officer, the wars in the Ukraine and Gaza, youth conflict in Alice Springs, the arrest of Samantha Murphy’s alleged killer, the Baltimore Bridge collapse and Moscow Concert Hall attacks, rounded out interest in online news in March.
More than 20.7 million people used a news website or app in March, reaching 96.6 per cent of online Australians aged 14+.
The chart below shows the News brands’ ranking during March 2024 by online audience size.
Ipsos iris, Australia’s digital audience measurement currency endorsed by IAB Australia, showed the most consumed website and app categories in February were search engines (21.3 million), social networking (21.3 million), technology (21.3 million), retail and commerce (21.1 million) and entertainment (21 million).
In March, 21.5 million Australians aged 14+ used the internet and spent an average of 4.3 hours per day, or almost 134 hours in the month, online.
Sports was the fastest-growing category, up 11.2 per cent in March compared to February 2024. It was followed by automotive (up 1.9 per cent) and health (up 1.7 per cent). The average time per person spent on the sports category rose by 29.8 per cent, reflecting the commencement of the AFL, NRL, and Super Rugby seasons.
Lifestyle websites and apps also saw a significant increase in average time spent per person online for the month, growing by 11.4 per cent.
Fit nation
Among online content consumption category insights, younger Australians aged between 14 and 24 appear to be on a fitness trend, driving the increase in the health website and app audience—up 8.2 per cent compared to February 2024.
Four in five of the health apps used by this age group were fitness-related, including the Sweat Coin app (274,000 online users), Flo Period and Ovulation Tracker app (258,000), Samsung Health app (154,000), Strava app (154,000) and Google Fit app (153,000).
Overall, the use of health websites and apps rose 1.7 per cent to almost 18.3 million Australians from the month prior, and time spent on health news jumped by 28.4 per cent over the same period.
The chart below shows the Health brands’ ranking during March 2024 by online audience size.
Ipsos iris, which officially launched in March 2023, provides accurate data about the 21.5 million Australians aged 14+ who access a wide variety of digital content and services across smartphone, PC/laptop and tablet devices.
