The Ipsos Iris February report has revealed the Sports category audience increased by 4.9 per cent month on month, thanks to a stacked line up of significant sporting events.
Thanks to the 2026 Winter Olympics, The Australian Open men’s tennis final, The Superbowl and the AFL State of Origin series in Perth across the month 13.3 million Australians, or 59 per cent of the online population aged 14+, visited a sports website or app, with major national and international sporting events garnering attention.
Overall, Australians spent around 32 minutes consuming sports content online in February, with men spending 49 minutes, compared to 13 minutes for women. Men also made up slightly more of the audience composition (52.2 per cent), compared to women (47.8 per cent).
The chart below shows the sports brands’ ranking during February 2026 by online audience size.
Married At First Sight, hero teen and British royals drive online news content in February
Ipsos iris data shows 21.1 million people used a news website or app in February, reaching 93.6 per cent of online Australians aged 14+ compared to 96.5 per cent at the same time last year. Australians spent an average of 3.13 hours per month consuming news in February, compared to 4.43 hours per month for the same time last year.
Australians turned to news websites and apps for updates on several major local and international news events. Nationally, the search for missing four-year-old Gus Lamont drove strong engagement, with intense public interest around police updates on the South Australian case.
A proposal to give NSW residents an extra day off for ANZAC Day also generated significant interest, along with the story of a 13-year-old boy’s heroic rescue of his family in Western Australia, the kidnapping of Sydney grandfather Chris Baghsarian and coverage of Tropical Cyclone Mitchell.
Entertainment news around Married At First Sight and comedian Celeste Barber’s separation from her husband also received widespread coverage.
Globally, stories related to the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict as the bombardment of Iran commenced, Jeffrey Epstein and the aftermath of the release of the Epstein files and the arrest of British royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor also drew substantial attention.
The chart below shows the News brands’ ranking during February 2026 by online audience size.
Homes and Property category continues audience growth in February
The homes and property category again topped year-on-year growth in February, holding its top growth spot from January and jumping by 9.3 per cent. This was followed by energy suppliers and utilities (+ 7.3 per cent), events and attractions (+5.3 per cent), automotive (+2.5 per cent) and entertainment (+2.1 per cent).
Ipsos iris, Australia’s digital audience measurement currency endorsed by IAB Australia, showed that a total of 22.6 million Australians aged 14+ used the internet in February and spent an average of 4.9 hours daily online, up 5.3 per cent compared to the same time last year.
The most consumed categories in February were social networking (22.47 million), search engines (22.45 million), online media (22.44 million), technology (22.34 million), and entertainment (22.19 million).
Ipsos iris provides accurate data about the 22.6 million Australians aged 14+ who access a wide variety of digital content and services across smartphone, PC/laptop and tablet devices.
