Nine has overhauled its online news vertical 9news.com.au with a mobile video-first approach, as the publisher seeks to grow online audiences around nine.com.au and its associated websites.
The refreshed website, which last month was read by more than 2.9 million Australians, has been redesigned to emphasise the key areas for 9news: breaking news, video and local content.
The new-look website includes new features such as a looping video teaser at the centre of the 9news.com.au homepage to give readers a moving image view of the day’s news.
“When we looked at overhauling 9news.com.au, we knew we had to put video – and in particular, mobile video – at the centre of the experience,” Josie MacRae, head of digital news at Nine, said.
The new 9news.com.au will also have live streaming of major news events through the top right-hand corner of the website, as part of Nine’s ongoing commitment to breaking news across all platforms.
“We have also emphasised live streaming and location technology to help ensure that our readers can easily access major breaking news events, along with the most relevant information to them,” MacRae said.
“Nine News is one of Australia’s most trusted news brands and these changes help to keep us competitive by emphasising the areas where we have a clear competitive advantage: video and our national reach.
“Our heritage in television and our scale as a national broadcaster are being brought to bear in the online world and will help us to define our future in the digital space.”
Nine’s chief digital and marketing officer, Alex Parsons, said he was confident the overhaul would help nine.com.au continue to grow new audiences and build on its market-leading reader engagement.
“In the past 12 months, nine.com.au has firmly cemented its place in the top tier of Australian news websites,” he said.
“These new and exciting changes to 9news.com.au are just the latest changes as we continue to evolve our product and cater to the ever-evolving needs of the millions of Australians who visit our online properties each month.”
