Latest report says newspaper print is the preferred medium for most Australian consumers, despite dwindling numbers as digital readership continues to surge. The latest Enhanced Media Metrics Australia (emma) report, which captures monthly data, shows the total newspaper audience numbers for the year-to-August declining, despite 13.9 million reading papers.
Newspaper print preferred over digital
Metropolitan papers reached 11.6 million Australians per month, regional papers 3.2 million, and community newspapers reach 5.1 million, the data shows. Digital readership is up three per cent in the year to August, reaching an average of 11.6 million people every month, figures reveal. The figures show Fairfax papers the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age continue on their downward slide losing 592,000 and 272,000 readers respectively, compared to August last year. News Corp papers did not escape the wrath of digital either with figures showing similar trends as Fairfax. Sydney tabloid the Daily Telegraph saw its August readership down to 3.9 million last year’s 4.2 million, emma data reveals. Figures for Melbourne metropolitan newspaper the Herald Sun reveal it has lost 313,000 readers from last year’s 3.9 million readers down to 3.6 million.
Mark Hollands, chief executive of The Newspaper Works
However, it is not all doom and gloom as national newspaper the Financial Review bucked the trend and increased its readership for August by 106,000 to 1.5 million readers. The other national newspaper, The Australian, however lost 291,000 readers for the year-to-August results compared to last year. Mark Hollands, chief executive of The Newspaper Works, was upbeat about the results saying print remains competitive and impactful. Hollands says, “While mobile audiences continue their steady rise, offering an engaged and highly attractive readership to advertisers, print remains most Australians’ preferred means of consuming newspapers. “And with 3.2 million Australians reading regional newspapers and 5.1 million reading suburban titles each month, their important and enduring place in communities is clear.”
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