News readers ‘ready to buy’ as print decline slows

May 25, 2023 at 04:00 am by admin


Further confirmation that print is not dead comes in the latest tranch of readership figures from Australia’s news publishers.

The latest ThinkNewsBrands and Roy Morgan Total News figures show 20.6 million Australians over the age of 14 – or 96 per cent – “engage with news” monthly.

TNB executive general manager Vanessa Lyons says that while readership is down across print and digital – by 0.7 per cent and 5.8 per cent respectively – the decline in print has slowed compared to previous reporting periods.

She attributes a 0.2 per cent decline in readership, compared to the same period last year, to “post-COVID demographic shifts and behavioural implications”.

There has also been an update to Australian population data in the current period. “Total News” is defined as Australians aged 14+ reading news in print and/or digital. Digital news includes Australian publishers’ news websites/apps, Apple News and non-Australian-owned news. It also includes ABC News and Google News.

Figures for individual states and territories are:

NSW incl. ACT, 6.9 million (96%); Victoria, 5.4 million (97%); Queensland, 4.2 million (95%); Western Australia, 2.2 million (98%); South Australia, 1.4 million (96%); Tasmania, 0.5 million (97%); and Northern Territory, 0.1 million (97%0.

Readership demographics (a four-weekly average over the last 12 months) are 14-24        3.1 million (92%); 25-34 3.6 million (96%); 35-49 5.1 million (97%); 50-64 4.6 million (98%); and 65+ 4.3 million (96%).

ThinkNewsBrands has also published household income statistics – with those earning less than $50,000 accounting for 94 per cent of readership, and everyone else in the 96-97 per cent bracket.

“While general, breaking news dominates news consumption with 95 per cent of Australians reading general news, there is a high level of cross-pollination to special interest categories with 70 per cent of general news readers reading three or more categories including property, sport and lifestyle,” says Lyons.

Category readership: General News 20.4 million (95%); Property 14.7 million (69%); Sport 13.1 million (61%); Lifestyle & Health 12.3 million (58%); Entertainment & Culture 11.2 million (52%); Business & Finance 10.2 million (47%); Auto 6.8 million (32%); Travel 6.0 million (28%); Technology 5.0 million (23%); and Other 4.0 million (19%).

“Every week more Australians read the news than drink coffee or eat fresh vegetables. This readership data reaffirms that news provides a powerhouse of audience engagement and consumer readiness. The figures show that Total News not only delivers guaranteed scale, but also a primed audience ready to buy with 41 per cent of news consumers considered heavy users of the channel,” said Lyons (pictured).

Sections: Newsmedia industry

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