Newspapers might seem few and far between, but that’s because its readership is going digital, with reading on mobile phones driving growth.
Over a four-week period 11.8 million Australians read newspaper media on PCs, laptops, tablets or mobiles, a 4.4 per cent increase year on year, according to the latest Enhanced Media Metrics Australia (emma) data.
The emma data reveals that over the past year 500,000 new readers used their smartphones to access newspaper media. Currently 3.6 million people access newspaper media on mobiles, an increase of 16 per cent year on year.
But despite the growth in digital readership, print still delivers more readers, with 13.8 million readers, 77 per cent of the population, reading print newspapers.
Although print readership is down 6.6 per cent year on year, the increase in digital readership is offsetting these declines. Total readership of newspaper media remained steady at 16.4 million, or 93 per cent of the population.
The latest emma data shows that regional and community titles continued to grow in total readership, up 7.4 per cent and 6.7 per cent respectively, demonstrating their vital role in society.
The Sydney Morning Herald again remains Australia’s highest reaching title across platforms with a total audience of 5.148 million readers. The Daily Telegraph follows with 4.081 million and then the Herald Sun on 3.885 million.
Rank | Cross platform readership (last four weeks) | emma Sep15 |
[000] | ||
1 | Sydney Morning Herald / smh.com.au | 5148 |
2 | Daily Telegraph / thetelegraph.com.au | 4081 |
3 | Herald Sun / heraldsun.com.au | 3885 |
4 | The Age / theage.com.au | 3139 |
5 | The Australian / theaustralian.com.au | 2960 |
6 | Courier-Mail / couriermail.com.au | 2855 |
7 | West Australian / thewest.com.au | 1667 |
8 | Adelaide Advertiser / adelaidenow.com.au | 1495 |
9 | Australian Financial Review / afr.com | 1476 |
10 | Sunday Times / perthnow.com.au | 1285 |
11 | Canberra Times / canberratimes.com.au | 774 |
12 | Gold Coast Bulletin / goldcoast.com.au | 442 |
13 | Sunshine Coast Daily / sunshinecoastdaily.com.au | 346 |
14 | Newcastle Herald (M-Sat Net) (L4W) | 334 |
15 | Northern Territory News / ntnews.com.au | 320 |
16 | Mercury (Tas) / themercury.com.au | 309 |
17 | Geelong Advertiser / Geelong Advertiser.com.au | 257 |
18 | Chronicle [AdNet] (Print & Comp Web) (L4W) | 246 |
19 | Townsville Bulletin (M-Sat Net) (L4W) | 172 |
20 | Cairns Post (M-Sat Net) (L4W) | 158 |
21 | The Examiner (M-Sun Net) (L4W) | 155 |
22 | Illawarra Mercury (M-Sat Net) (L4W) | 145 |
23 | Border Mail (M-Sat Net) (L4W) | 125 |
24 | The Advocate (M-Sat Net) (L4W) | 92 |
25 | Northern Star (M-Sat Net) (L4W) | 91 |
26 | Daily Mercury (M-Sat Net) (L4W) | 88 |
27 | Bendigo Advertiser (M-Sat Net) (L4W) | 84 |
28 | Morning Bulletin (M-Sat Net) (L4W) | 83 |
29 | The Courier (M-Sat Net) (L4W) | 79 |
30 | Daily Advertiser (M-Sat Net) (L4W) | 75 |
31 | The Standard (M-Sat Net) (L4W) | 48 |
Source: emmaTM, 12 months to September 2015. Readership based on last four weeks. Trends compared with 12 months to September 2014. Survey conducted by Ipsos MediaCT, people 14+, Nielsen Online Ratings, September 2015 and September 2014, people 14+ only.
Feature Image: National Archives, 2.24.01.05, 924-5894, license CC-BY-SA / Peters, Hans / Anefo