Sydney, Australia – National daily compact newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald takes the lead as the most-read newspaper in Australia, new data from media industry body ThinkNewsBrands and market research company Roy Morgan shows.
According to recent data, The Sydney Morning Herald registered 8.4 million readers, both print and on their digital version during a four-week period.
These are followed by The Age (6 million readers), The Australia (5.2 million readers), The Daily Telegraph (4.9 million readers), The Herald Sun (4.7 million readers), and The West Australian & Sunday Times (4.1 million readers).
The report, which is the first release of Total News readership reports, shows that news is holding strong with 20.4 million Australians consuming news in a four-week period, an increase of 1% compared to the same period last year.
In terms of which medium most readers consume their news from, digital news maintains its position of strength with readership of 19.1 million, 90% of the population aged 14 and up. Meanwhile, print news has seen a 6% increase compared to the same period last year, now reaching 14.1 million people, 67% of the population aged 14 and up.
“With all of us feeling the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis, trusted, timely news has never been more important. This is very clearly reflected in the first release of Total News readership figures which shows news maintaining robust audiences,” said Vanessa Lyons, general manager at ThinkNewsBrands.
Meanwhile, Michele Levine, CEO at Roy Morgan, commented, “We’re pleased to be working with ThinkNewsBrands to measure and report Total News. Since our appointment, we have been busy behind the scenes creating simplicity for channel planners and clearly representing the reach and scale of news among all Australians.”
Speaking about the milestone, Lisa Davie, editor at The Sydney Morning Herald said, “These results show that the Herald’s brand of journalism is rewarding readers with fearless, independent news and analysis, especially as New South Wales goes through one of the toughest periods in its recent history.”
