Written news reaches 21.5 million Australians over 14 years of age every month, equivalent to 97 per cent of the population according to Total News Publishing data from ThinkNewsBrands and Roy Morgan.
The data also shows readers across all demographics are actively leaning into news, with 67 million interactions per week. Australian news readers are also consistently engaged across multiple sources of written news to satisfy diverse interests, with three in five news audiences reading three or more categories in addition to general, breaking news.
| Category | Unique Audience | % Population |
| General News | 20.6 million | 93% |
| Property | 14.6 million | 65% |
| Sport | 13.1 million | 54% |
| Lifestyle & Health | 12.1 million | 53% |
| Entertainment & Culture | 11.3 million | 50% |
| Business & Finance | 10.5 million | 47% |
| Auto | 6.9 million | 32% |
| Travel | 6.7 million | 30% |
| Technology | 5.0 million | 22% |
| Other | 4.2 million | 19% |
Exploration into attitudes and behaviours of special interest category readers reveals the strength of Total News Publishing in engaging audiences which are influential, interested, and ready to buy.
Readers across the top titles within the Auto, Business and Finance and Lifestyle and Health news categories are 20-35 per cent more likely than the general population to have high discretionary spending. Business category readers are also significantly more likely to be very confident in their financial situation (36 per cent more likely than the general population).
State and territory mastheads enjoy large readership numbers outside their local markets, due to digital accessibility.
The latest figures highlight readership of state-based titles transcends its borders, with incremental reach of up to +137 per cent and most state titles seeing a doubling of readership. The figures demonstrate the large national interest in state/territory mastheads and the additional media value home-grown titles can provide advertisers beyond publications’ state borders.
“The sheer reach of Total News Publishing is staggering and shows advertisers can access any audience they’re after via Total News Publishing,” said Vanessa Lyons, CEO of print advertising body ThinkNewsBrands.
“News is ‘lean-in’ premium content. Audiences aren’t scrolling past it, they’re actively engaged, and that means much higher engagement for ads placed within news. The millions of additional interstate readers enjoyed by state/territory mastheads represent immense incremental value and out of the box options for advertisers. At a time when ROI has never been more important, the data shows news delivers the right kinds of high quality commercially favourable audiences for advertisers.”
