News Media Sector Records $2.3 Billion Advertising Revenue For Past 12 Months

News Media Sector Records $2.3 Billion Advertising Revenue For Past 12 Months
Rochelle Burbury
By Rochelle Burbury



Australia’s news media sector has reported an annualised $2.3 billion in advertising revenue for the last four quarters, according to the latest News Media Index with data collated by SMI.

The News Media Index was announced in May this year and is a world-first partnership between Australia’s four largest news media publishers and Standard Media Index (SMI) to enhance commercial transparency for advertisers and investors.

The index records all publisher print and digital revenue, as well as whole-of-industry revenue, and is independently verified by SMI.

Print continues to dominate the sector accounting for 80 per cent of total ad revenue, with digital ad spend at 20 per cent , buoyed by a 34 per cent increase in programmatic bookings.

In addition, premium news media websites are growing at nine times the industry average for content sites (excluding programmatic), increasing revenue by 10.8 per cent in the calendar year to date.

“SMI’s agency-only data shows it’s been a tough quarter for most media in the third quarter, with total ad spend back 0.2 per cent from the same quarter a year ago with only Olympic-related media able to report above-average growth,’’ SMI Australia and New Zealand managing director Jane Schulze said.

“Despite that, the news media publishers have continued to grow key parts of their businesses – such as the programmatic side – as they continue to evolve their product capabilities to compete against new digital players.”

The News Media Index, which contains all ad revenue data from the publishers’ financial systems, addresses misconceptions by agency buyers, advertisers, investors and commentators about the true size of the sector.

NewsMediaWorks CEO Mark Hollands said, “The news media sector remains strong and resilient despite the challenging advertising and economic environment. The revenue data also highlights the successful digital transformation of our publishers.

“The growth in programmatic and in particular our premium news sites, plus the continued strength of direct advertisers, proves the value of news media. The news media sector remains an influential channel whose content is trusted by consumers and has the confidence of advertisers to deliver results.”

The revenue data is taken from NewsMediaWorks’ foundation members, News Corp Australia, Fairfax Media, West Australian Newspapers and APN News & Media, who represent approximately 90 per cent of the news media sector. SMI extracts the information directly from publisher financial systems.




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