Two in three now access news online

Two in three Australians now access news journalism online, with mobile readership leading the charge, according to the latest Enhanced Media Metrics Australia (emma) data.

Smartphone readership has grown by 15 per cent year-on-year to 3.7 million, or one fifth of the population.

Accessing news media content on all digital platforms rose by 6 per cent to 11.9 million, according to the January emma figures. Accessing newspaper websites via PCs or laptops remains the most popular digital platform, increasing by 5 per cent year-on-year to 10 million readers.

Print remained steady and still dominates as the preferred platform for the majority of news media readers, at 13.8 million or 77 per cent of the population. Most are frequent readers, with 8.5 million reading three or more newspapers each week, and 4.5 million reading a newspaper every day.

“Almost half the population regularly engage with newspapers throughout the week, which clearly demonstrates that newspapers play a valuable and influential role in society,” said Mark Hollands, CEO, The Newspaper Works. “The growth in digital readership is offsetting declines in print readership as publishers continue to innovate across platforms and grow their audiences.

“The emma data continues to show that readers are accessing their news content from a range of platforms that provide advertisers with a large and engaged audience," he said.

The Sydney Morning Herald has Australia’s largest cross platform readership, reaching 5.3 million readers:

* Source: emmaTM, 12 months to January 2016. Readership based on last four weeks. Trends compared with 12 months to January 2015. Survey conducted by Ipsos MediaCT, people 14+, Nielsen Online Ratings, January 2016 and January 2015, people 14+ only.