Newspaper readers continue to migrate from print to web and mobile platforms in the latest emma data from The Newspaper Works. Digital readership for metro and national newspapers has grown 15 per cent in the past year to October, growth that offsets losses in print readership according to Newspaper Works CEO Mark Hollands. In the past six months alone, the emma metric records a growth in digital readership of metro newspapers increased over a four week period from 7.8 million readers to eight million – a rise of three per cent.
Multi-platform: digital news
Total cross-platform (print and digital) newspaper readership is now 16.3 million people, or 92 per cent of people aged 14 and older. Hollands says, “These figures underscore the influence of the industry and its transformation from print-only to the market-relevant balance of journalism in print and on various digital platforms. “The continuing audience growth on web, tablet and mobile platforms supports publishers’ innovation strategies to enhance the enjoyment of the reader and provide new and exciting solutions for commercial partners.” The Sydney Morning Herald is Australia’s most-read newspaper, with 5.6 million print and digital readers over a four-week period. Runner up is The Daily Telegraph, with 4.4 million print and digital readers over four weeks, followed by the Herald Sun (4.3 million), The Age (3.33 million) and the Courier-Mail (3.29 million). In terms of penetration with the state and territory capital cities, Tasmania’s Mercury and the Northern Territory News are the strongest relative performers, reaching 91 per cent of people aged 14 and over in Hobart and Darwin respectively. The third highest capital city penetration goes to the Adelaide Advertiser (85 per cent), Courier-Mail (77 per cent), West Australian (76 per cent), Herald Sun (74 per cent) and Sydney Morning Herald (64 per cent) every four weeks. Metro newspapers have the largest readership base (12.8 million), followed by local community newspapers (4.8 million), regional (2.9 million), national (2.5 million) and rural and agricultural (418,000).
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