Major news events saw consumption of online news content rise by 0.6% to 20.2 million for the month of September, according to Ipsos iris, Australia’s digital audience measurement currency endorsed by IAB Australia.
There was a clutch of big news stories during September that all contributed to the consumption of news sites and apps last month. Audience interest was fuelled by high-profile celebrities, politicians and business people in the news, including the resignations of Qantas CEO Alan Joyce and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, the marriage split of Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness, the Russell Brand scandal, Rupert Murdoch’s retirement and golden handshake, all the red carpet action from the Dally M and Brownlow medal presentations and grand finals lead up, plus the Wallabies defeat and the future of coach Eddie Jones speculation.
The News category includes audience and time spent online on both general news and broader news content, including weather, sport, lifestyle, entertainment, and business news.
Overall, Australians aged 14+ spent more than 3.7 hours per day online, or 115 hours, in September, which was down 2.8% compared to August. The largest audience decline was for sport (-6.4 per cent), dropping from the audience highs generated by the Women’s World Cup.
The most consumed website and app categories in September were social networking at 21 million, followed by search engines (20.9 million), technology (20.9 million), retail and commerce (20.7 million) and entertainment (20.6 million).
People aged 25-39 were the largest cohort online, while people aged 40 to 54 spent the most time online in September.
In the finance category, audiences rose by 0.5% in September, with 20.1 million Australians aged 14-plus spending around two hours a month consuming finance-related websites and apps.
Online banking dominates the category with almost 20 million Australians using these services.
In addition, more than 11 million Australians aged 14 and over consumed finance news related content on websites and apps in September.
Finance news audiences were more likely to be male and aged 40 plus, more likely to have a degree or higher level of education and work in professional and managerial occupations. Big finance stories including building company collapses and the impact on the housing market, RBA interest rates decisions and accompanying cost of living pressures, and consumers moving back to cash.
Ipsos iris, which officially launched in March, provides data about the 21 million Australians aged 14+ who access a wide variety of digital content and services across smartphone, PC/laptop and tablet devices.
