Cross-platform audience of Australian newspapers up 2.4% in a year

*Print readership is average issue readership.

Full Newspaper Inserted Magazine Readership Results available to view here.

Regional newspapers lose readership over the year

The Hobart Mercury and Canberra Times were among a number of regional titles to lift their readership in the year to September 2018. The Hobart Mercury increased weekday readership 2 per cent to 52,000 and the readership of the Canberra Times was up 2.1 per cent to 49,000.
Despite a decline the Newcastle Herald remains Australia's leading regional weekday masthead down 20.5 per cent to 62,000 ahead of the Gold Coast Bulletin down 3.5 per cent to 55,000 over the past year.

Top Regional Newspapers – Ranked by Print Readership (Monday – Friday)*

*Print readership is average issue readership.

Full Newspaper Readership Results available to view here.

Total cross-platform readership of Australia’s leading regional titles has declined over the last year. Despite a decline in its digital audience the Canberra Times remains Australia’s most widely read regional masthead with a total cross-platform audience of 449,000. The Hobart Mercury increased its digital audience over the last year but its total cross-platform audience was down slightly to 202,000.

Total Cross-Platform Audience for available regional titles

*Total cross-platform audience comprises print which is net readership in an average 7 days and digital which is net website visitation and app usage in an average 7 days.

Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan, says:

“Over 15.9 million Australians 14+ access newspapers in an average 7 day period either in print, or online via website or app. This represents an extra 350,000 Australians now consuming newspaper content via one format or another compared to a year ago, an increase of 2.4per cent in total cross-platform audience size.

“The Sydney Morning Herald is Australia’s leading masthead with a total audience of over 4.2 million and southern stablemate The Age attracts an audience of over 2.9 million. The cross-platform audience of both titles increased over the last year with the Sydney Morning Herald up by 4.5 per cent and The Age up by 2.5 per cent.

“Other leading titles to increase their cross-platform audience included the national masthead The Australian which was up a strong 6.4 per cent to to an audience of over 2.5 million and Australia’s top business-focused publication The Australian Financial Review (AFR) which now attracts a highly valuable audience of almost 1.4 million (up 5.6 per cent).

“Other titles to perform strongly include News Corp titles the Daily Telegraph with a cross-platform audience of over 3 million – and second only to the Sydney Morning Herald, Melbourne’s Herald Sun with a cross-platform audience of just under 3 million and the Courier-Mail with an audience of over 1.8 million and Australia’s sixth most widely read newspaper.”