It’s Official: Over 3.1 million New Zealanders read newspapers

Roy Morgan readership results for New Zealand’s print newspapers and magazines in mid-2018.

Over 3.1 million, or 80.2%, of New Zealanders aged 14+ now read or access newspapers in an average 7 day period via print or online (website or app) platforms. In addition a total of 2.3 million New Zealanders aged 14+ (59%) read magazines whether in print or online either via the web or an app.

These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan New Zealand Single Source survey of 6,422 New Zealanders aged 14+ over the 12 months to June 2018.

Four of New Zealand’s leading newspapers increase their cross-platform audience

New Zealand’s most widely read publication the New Zealand Herald consolidated its overall readership with a total cross-platform audience of 1,806,000 in the 12 months to June 2018, up 2,000 on a year ago.

The New Zealand Herald, based in New Zealand's largest city of Auckland, has a readership more than three times as large as Wellington's Dominion Post on 500,000 and national weekly The Sunday Star Times with 402,000 readers.

Although the Herald has maintained a clear pole position amongst New Zealand's newspapers its modest cross-platform audience growth of 0.1% over the past year was outpaced over the past year by the Sunday Star Times (+6.3%), the Otago Daily Times (+4.7%) and the Taranaki Daily News (+14.8%).

Top 10 Newspapers – Total Cross-Platform Audience (Print & Online)

Publication	Print		Digital (web or app)		Total Cross-Platform Audience* (print, web or app)
	June 2017	June 2018	June 2017	June 2018	June 2017	June 2018	% Change
	‘000s	‘000s	‘000s	‘000s	‘000s	‘000s	%
New Zealand Herald	849	775	1,420	1,475	1,804	1,806	0.1%
Dominion Post	344	293	254	293	506	500	-1.2%
Sunday Star Times	325	337	68	84	378	402	6.3%
The Press	273	263	175	186	372	364	-2.2%
Otago Daily Times	141	151	115	119	212	222	4.7%
Waikato Times	141	123	94	114	215	203	-5.6%
Bay of Plenty Times	95	90	79	98	158	157	-0.6%
Northern Advocate	70	77	71	68	124	124	0%
Taranaki Daily News	71	62	57	83	108	124	14.8%
Hawkes Bay Today	91	81	58	50	130	117	-10.0%

Full Newspaper Readership Results available to view here.
*Cross-Platform Audience is the number of New Zealanders who have read or accessed individual newspaper content via print or online. Print is net readership in an average 7 days. Online is net readership online in an average 7 days.

Leading magazines AA Directions, New Zealand Listener & Kia Ora grow readership

New Zealand’s most widely read magazine remains driving magazine AA Directions - now with an average issue readership of 538,000 New Zealanders up 31,000 on a year ago.

The leading magazines to increase their print readership over the last year included AA Directions, New Zealand Listener, Kia Ora (Air NZ) and New Zealand House & Garden.

Other Top 15 New Zealand magazines to grow their average issue readership include New Zealand Listener now with a readership of 268,000, Kia Ora (Air New Zealand) now with a readership of 159,000 and New Zealand House & Garden now with a readership of 149,000.

New Zealand’s Top 15 Magazines by Average Issue Print Readership

Publication	12m to June 2017	12m to June 2018	% Reach Change
	‘000s	‘000s	%
AA Directions	507	538	0.5%
NZ Woman’s Day*	339	309	-1.0%
New Zealand Listener*	246	268	0.4%
TV Guide	228	224	-0.3%
Australian Women’s Weekly (NZ Edition)	251	222	-0.9%
NZ Woman’s Weekly*	169	164	-0.2%
Kia Ora (Air NZ)	133	159	0.6%
SkyWatch	190	156	-1.0%
NZ House & Garden*	144	149	0%**
Cuisine	171	128	-1.2%
Mindfood	132	110	-0.7%
Healthy Food Guide	117	110	-0.3%
North & South	134	108	-0.7%
NZ Gardener	132	106	-0.8%
Time	109	100	-0.3%

Full Readership Results for over 90 New Zealand Magazines available to view here.
*Roy Morgan has measured additional readership for this magazine via Cross-Platform Audiences – see next section. **NZ House & Garden (+5,000) increased their average issue readership but not enough to grow their reach of population which kept pace with population growth.

New Zealand Listener leads total cross-platform* audience growth

New Zealand Listener has grown its total cross-platform audience by 19,000, or 7.3%, to 280,000 in the 12 months to June 2018.

However, despite the increase for New Zealand Listener it is New Zealand Woman’s Day which retains a larger total cross-platform audience of 346,000.

Other leading magazines with strong cross-platform audiences include New Zealand Woman’s Weekly with a cross-platform audience of 216,000, New Zealand House & Garden with a cross-platform audience of 189,000 and National Business Review with a cross-platform audience of 79,000.

*Cross-platform audience is the number of New Zealanders who have read or accessed individual magazine content via print or online. Print is average issue readership; digital is website visitation in an average 4 weeks (New Zealand House & Garden), except for weekly titles which are in an average 7 days (New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, New Zealand Woman’s Day, New Zealand Listener and National Business Review).

Canvas increases readership and is the leading Newspaper Inserted Magazine

New Zealand’s leading newspaper inserted magazine is the Weekend New Zealand Herald newspaper inserted magazine Canvas with an average issue readership of 315,000 now clearly ahead of the Sunday Magazine included in the Sunday Star-Times on 268,000.

Behind these two market leaders are Weekend on 238,000, Your Weekend on 221,000 and rounding out the Top 5 is Bite on 207,000.

Canvas which increased its readership by 8,000 over the last year and Your Weekend which increased its readership by 2,000 over the last year were the only leading newspaper inserted magazines to grow their readership over the past year though neither outpaced New Zealand’s population growth.

New Zealand’s Top 5 Newspaper Inserted Magazines by Print Readership

Publication	12m to June 2017	12m to June 2018	% Reach Change
	‘000s	‘000s	%
Canvas (North Island)	307	315	0%
Sunday Magazine	281	268	-0.5%
Weekend (North Island)	260	238	-0.7%
Your Weekend	219	221	-0.1%*
Bite (North Island)	212	207	-0.3%

Full Readership Results for over 90 New Zealand Magazines available to view here.
*Your Weekend (+2,000) increased their average issue readership but not enough to grow their reach of population which kept pace with population growth.

John La Rosa, General Manager Client Services – Roy Morgan New Zealand, says:

“The latest Roy Morgan readership figures for New Zealand show reading newspapers or magazines remains an important source of engagement with media for many New Zealanders.

“Over 3.1 million New Zealanders (80.2%) read or access newspapers in an average 7 day period whether via print or online (website or app) and 2.3 million New Zealanders (59%) read magazines whether in print or online. These are huge existing and valuable audiences that advertisers can reach via established and well-known brands.

“These ‘eyeballs’ are not just a product of the increasing move into digital either. Over 2.6 million New Zealanders (67%) read print newspapers, which includes well known dailies such as the New Zealand Herald as well as local and community newspapers, in an average 7 day period.

“Readership of magazines is even more closely tied to traditional print magazines compared to digital offerings. Over 2.2 million New Zealanders (58.1%) read print magazines in an average 7 day period.

“The wide readership newspapers and magazines enjoy in New Zealand is a product of years of familiarity and trust built-up over decades and represents an ‘edge’ that traditional media outlets hold over newer and untested forms of media.

“A recent Roy Morgan survey in Australia revealed social media to be the most ‘distrusted’ industry by average Australians and this negative ‘Net Trust’ held by social media presents an opportunity for traditional media companies to exploit and turn to their advantage.

“Roy Morgan can provide the research nous to publishers, media agencies and advertisers looking to safeguard their existing audiences and grow their reach to new customers in an increasingly inter-connected and fast-paced world. The breadth of challenges facing the publishing industry makes it more important than ever to understand the demographics, lifestyle, attitudes, purchasing preferences, and cross-media habits of readers.”