A total of 16.4 million consumers aged 14+ engage with Australian newspaper content over a four-week period, according to the latest emma (Enhanced Media Metrics Australia) data released.

Digital readership continues to rise, up three per cent in the year to August 2015 to reach an average of 11.6 million people monthly.

Print remains the preferred medium for most consumers: 13.9 million Australians read print newspapers in August.

Metropolitan, regional and community newspapers reach 11.6 million, 3.2 million and 5.1 million Australians, respectively, each month.

Mobile continues to grow in popularity, with 3.6 million people consuming newspaper content on mobiles in the latest period, up an impressive 17 per cent year-on-year. Tablet readership grew 3 per cent to 3.1 million.

“That 16.4 million consumers read Australian newspaper content each month in a saturated media environment reflects the essential role of news media brands and the quality of Australian journalism in our society,” The Newspaper Works CEO Mark Hollands said.

“While mobile audiences continue their steady rise, offering an engaged and highly attractive readership to advertisers, print remains most Australians’ preferred means of consuming newspapers.

“And with 3.2 million Australians reading regional newspapers and 5.1 million reading suburban titles each month, their important and enduring place in communities is clear.”

The Sydney Morning Herald remains Australia’s highest reaching title across platforms with a total audience of 5.11 million readers. The Daily Telegraph followswith 4.12 million and then the Herald Sun on 3.90 million. 

 

Cross platform readership (last four weeks)	emma August 2015 (000s)
Sydney Morning Herald /smh.com.au	5112.2
Daily Telegraph /thetelegraph.com.au	4124.6
Herald Sun /heraldsun.com.au	3899.8
The Age /theage.com.au	3137.8
The Australian /theaustralian.com.au	3028.6
Courier-Mail /couriermail.com.au	2878.5
West Australian / thewest.com.au	1652.3
Adelaide Advertiser /adelaidenow.com.au	1585.5
Financial Review / afr.com	1568.3
Sunday Times /perthnow.com.au	1308.2
Canberra Times /canberratimes.com.au	826.4
Northern Territory News /ntnews.com.au	344.9
Sunshine Coast Daily /sunshinecoastdaily.com.au	364.1
Mercury (Tas) /themercury.com.au	316.2

 

The Herald Sun (Monday-Friday) retains the largest average issue readership in Australia with 1.30 million followed by The Sunday Telegraph (1.12 million), the Saturday Herald Sun (1.10 million), the Sunday Herald Sun (1.03 million) and the Monday-Friday Daily Telegraph (987,000). The Saturday Newcastle Herald is the most-read regional newspaper (140,000), with its daily counterpart next at 132,000.

 

Average Issue Readership	emma August 2015 (000s)
Herald Sun (M-F Av)	1303
Sunday Telegraph	1123
Herald Sun (Sat)	1099
Sunday Herald Sun	1029
Daily Telegraph (M-F Av)	987
Sunday Mail (QLD)	823
Daily Telegraph (Sat)	805
Sydney Morning Herald (Sat)	715
Sydney Morning Herald (M-F Av)	664
Sun-Herald	654
Courier-Mail (M-F Av)	638
Courier-Mail (Sat)	637
Weekend West	627
The Age (Sat)	590
Weekend Australian	587
West Australian (M-F Av)	578
The Age (M-F Av)	568
Sunday Times	488
Sunday Age	474
The Australian (M-F Av)	454
Sunday Mail (SA)	453
Saturday Advertiser	453
Adelaide Advertiser (M-F Av)	439
Financial Review (M-F Av)	309
Newcastle Herald (Sat)	140
Newcastle Herald (M-F Av)	132
Mercury on Saturday (Tas)	115
Financial Review (Weekend edition)	113
Gold Coast Bulletin (M-F Av)	112
Weekend Gold Coast Bulletin	108
The Saturday Paper	101
Mercury (Tas) (M-F Av)	101
Canberra Times (M-F Av)	100
Sunday Tasmanian	97
Canberra Times (Sat)	97
Townsville Bulletin (M-F Av)	87
Geelong Advertiser (Sat)	86
Townsville Bulletin (Sat)	83
Cairns Weekend Post	78
Geelong Advertiser (M-F Av)	75
The Examiner (Sat)	73
Sunday Canberra Times	69
The Star	69
The Examiner (M-F Av)	68
Northern Territory News (Sat)	68
Cairns Post (M-F Av)	68
Sunday Examiner	67
Border Mail (M-F Av)	66
Border Mail (Sat)	65
Illawarra Mercury (Sat)	65
Illawarra Mercury (M-F Av)	65

 

* Source: emma^TM, 12 months to August 2015. Readership based on last four weeks. Trends compared with 12 months to August 2014. Survey conducted by Ipsos MediaCT, people 14+, Nielsen Online Ratings, August 2015 and August 2014, people 14+ only.