The latest emma data showing readership figures for the 12 months to March 2016 have been unveiled, and unsurprisingly, the Sydney Morning Herald remains at the top of its game overall.
Looking at print figures, SMH comes in behind The Daily Telegraph and Herald Sun, which boast 2.7 million and 2.6 million readers per month, respectively. But when it comes to joint digital and print readership, the SMH soars, beating its closest competitor, The Tele, by over one million, leaving Fairfax the standing champion.
The Age, The Australian and Courier Mail all cracked the three million mark, while the Financial Review only nabbed readership stats of 1.5 million across both print and digital.
Commenting on the March 2016 emma survey results, Fairfax Media commercial & marketing services director, Tom Armstrong, said, “Fairfax Media’s extensive multi-platform network of news, information and entertainment reached 13.2 million people, or seven in 10 Australians in March, according to the latest emma data.
“The strength and depth of our quality independent journalism and content underpins the valuable, large-scale multi-platform audiences that we connect to our advertisers.
“We are continuing to invest in digital innovation to drive the growth of Fairfax’s digital network, reaching 11.2 million people in March, which is 3.5 per cent higher compared to the prior month.”
Newspapers are shown by the latest emma data to be the most popular platform for news media with more than three-quarters of Australia’s adult population picking up a copy. Print newspapers reach 13.7 million, or 76 per cent, of the population. The total number of people consuming web and device-based news content totals 12.95 million, or 72 per cent of the population.
In the magazine realm, the big wigs of Australian Women’s Weekly (who today received a new editor), Better Homes and Gardens, and New Idea and Woman’s Day all pulled strong rank, recording total readership figures of 2.3 million, 2.4 million, 3.1 million, and 3.1 million, respectively.
But none were good enough to beat Taste.com.au magazine, which pipped them all at the post and pulled a 4.2 million readership. Interestingly, however, it only recorded 768, 000 print readers versus digital, while the other frontrunners continued to thrive in the print versions.
