Total News readership continues to grow

The latest release of Total News readership shows news consumption continues to grow with 20.5 million Australians consuming news in a four-week period, an increase of 0.8 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The readership figures, produced by Roy Morgan for ThinkNewsBrands, refer to the 12 months to June 2022 and show that Total News reaches 97 per cent of the population aged 14+. Total News represents all news brands across print and digital as well as standalone news websites as one media channel.

The figures show the Financial Review has increased its average unique audience by 4 per cent to 3.5 million people a month. Editor-in-chief Michael Stutchbury lauded the result, particularly as some in the news industry deal with readers turning away – whether towards alternative news sources, or because household budgets are being stretched by inflation and rising interest rates.

“The Financial Review continues to post solid readership and premium subscription growth even during a cost-of-living squeeze because we provide news and analysis essential to our business audience,” he said.

West Australian Newspapers has grown its cross-platform audience by 12.7 per cent in the past year, meaning 4.6 million people now read The West Australian and The Sunday Times newspapers as well as its websites thewest.com.au and PerthNow every month. In the past year alone, continued growth means an extra 525,000 people are consuming West Australian Newspapers products every month.

West Australian Newspapers Editor-in-chief Anthony De Ceglie said the most significant growth over the past year had been on its paywall subscription website thewest.com.au. “This shows yet again that people are prepared to pay for quality journalism,” he said.

Total cross-platform print/digital audience for The Australian over the past 12 months was 4.98 million. Editor of The Australian, Michelle Gunn, said the results were recognition of the masthead’s strong performance across all platforms. “The figures clearly demonstrate that The Australian is delivering for its readers and engaging new audiences with our world class journalism,” she said.