Roy Morgan releases Enhanced Cross-Platform Audience results for Newspapers & Magazines

In this ‘digital first’ view of the media landscape Roy Morgan today releases its latest cross-platform audience results for Australian newspapers and magazines for the period January – March 2020. Roy Morgan’s audience numbers also include the first set of Apple News audience measurement numbers for the Australian market.

In the March quarter of this year an estimated 19.3 million (92%) Australians aged 14+ read or accessed newspapers or newspaper content in some way – print editions, online via website, app or news platforms including (metropolitan, local and regional titles) in an average four weeks. This includes an estimated 16.4 million (78%) reading or accessing metropolitan titles. Some 15.6 million (74%) Australians aged 14+ read or accessed a magazine or magazine content.

The enhanced 4 week cross-platform audience data measures both Newspaper and Magazine masthead reach across print and digital content by masthead for each Publisher.

These latest findings from Roy Morgan Single Source will now be available to Publishers, Media Agencies and Brand Advertisers on an on-going basis.

Sydney Morning Herald is Australia’s top masthead – read by 8.1 million Australians

This enhanced 4 week cross-platform audience data now shows the standout performers for Newspapers are the Nine Entertainment owned Sydney Morning Herald with a cross-platform audience of 8.1 million and its Melbourne stablemate The Age with a cross-platform audience of 5.4 million Australians in an average 4 week period in the March quarter.

News Corp’s Daily Telegraph is in third place with a cross-platform audience of 4.7 million in front of its Melbourne counterpart the Herald Sun which now has a cross-platform audience of 4.3 million Australians.

National broadsheet, The Australian, with a cross-platform audience of 4 million fills out the top 5.

These new ‘digital first’ Enhanced Cross-Platform Audience results are drawn from Roy Morgan Single Source comprising personal interviews with a representative sample of 10,852 Australians aged 14+ in their own homes and machine based data collected in the March quarter 2020.

Bauer Media’s ‘Now to Love’ online magazine hub is read by over 2.7 million Australians

The March quarter results for Magazine Publishers are equally impressive with the enhanced 4 week cross-platform audience data showing the Bauer Media owned ‘Now to Love’ website attracts an audience of 2.7 million Australians in an average 4 week period. Bauer Media’s ‘Now to Love’ website allows magazine publishers to reach their audience in new ways with innovative online offerings.

Many of Bauer Media’s magazine brands (including Women’s Weekly, Woman’s Day, Good Health, TV Week and Take 5) have consolidated their online presence in the ‘Now to Love’ hub which is adding incremental reach to already strong print based publications Women’s Day, estimated to reach more than 1.7 million readers in an average 4 week period, and stablemate Women’s Weekly with an estimated 4 week print reach of 1.1 million readers. 

There are several other magazines with large cross-platform audiences including Taste.com.au Magazine with a total audience of just over 3 million, New Idea with almost 2.5 million and Better Home & Gardens with over 2.1 million readers in an average 4 weeks in the March quarter.

Michele Levine, CEO Roy Morgan says the new 4 week cross-platform audience data released today shows newspapers and magazines are reaching new audiences that aren’t attached to traditional media channels:

4 Week Newspaper Cross-Platform Audience (January to March 2020)

Cross-Platform Audience is the number of Australians who have read or accessed individual newspaper content via print, web, app or Apple New (and incdes Monday – Friday and the weekend editions on Saturday and Sunday).

In line with traditional digital measures all results are 4 week estimates rather than print currency ‘average issue readership’ (AIR). The print currency ‘AIR’ readership estimates for newspapers are available to view in detail on the Roy Morgan website here.

Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine notes that the breadth of coverage offered by News Corp titles around Australia is unmatched:

4 Week Magazine Cross-Platform Audience (January to March 2020)

Cross-Platform Audience is the number of Australians who have read or accessed magazine content via print, web, app or Apple News.

In line with traditional digital measures all results are 4 week estimates rather than print currency ‘average issue readership’ (AIR). The print currency ‘AIR’ readership estimates for magazines are available to view in detail on the Roy Morgan website here.

Note 4 Week audience is 4 week readership for 7 day titles, Average Issue Readership is used for monthly &  quarterly titles.

For the record – Roy Morgan Print Readership Results

Roy Morgan provides the industry currency in readership figures. It is the most influential survey on newspaper and magazine readership in Australia and ensures selection of the most appropriate publications to reach the Australians aged 14+ markets.

The readership estimates below are ‘average issue readership’ (AIR) over a 12 month period, and represent the number, or %, of Australians who read or look into an average issue of the particular publication.

This provides an estimate of the ‘reach’ an advertiser can expect to achieve with advertising placed in the publication.

These print readership estimates do not include the additional Australians who read the publications in their digital form online, via web, mobile or app.

The total reach – ‘cross-platform’ reach is greater than the ‘average issue reach’ of a publication as it includes additional readers and cover a 4 week period, rather than an average issue.

Better Homes & Gardens leads growth in print magazine readership – up 17.1%

Better Homes & Gardens is Australia’s most widely read paid magazine with an average issue print readership up 17.1 per cent to 1,771,000 in the year to March 2020 and is now ahead of the Women’s Weekly with an average issue print readership of 1,337,000.

In addition National Geographic has retained an impressive average issue print readership of 1,1650,000 while Taste.com.au Magazine was up 3.6 per cent to 611,000. Super Food Ideas had the largest average issue print readership increase of the top magazines, up 30.8 per cent to 595,000.

The recently launched New Idea Royals is now Australia’s tenth most widely read paid magazine with a sizeable average issue print readership of 571,000. New titles That’s Life Mega Monthly with a print readership of 405,000 and Women’s Weekly Food read by 314,000 have also had strong starts.

Other magazines to perform strongly and increase their average issue print readership include Marie Claire (+16.3 per cent to 336,000), New Scientist (+1.9 per cent to 320,000) and Horizons (WA) (+4.6 per cent to 295,000).

Coles Magazine & Fresh most widely read and Bunnings Magazine read by almost 1.2m

Australia's two most widely read free magazines are again Coles Magazine with an average issue print readership in the year to March 2020 of 4,489,000 and Fresh with a readership of 4,015,000.

Bunnings Magazine is the third most widely read free magazine. It has an average issue print readership in the year to March 2020 of 1,170,000 making the hardware retailer’s magazine, launched a year ago, one of only six with an average issue print readership of more than 1 million Australians.

The five most read categories of magazines by average issue print readership

• Food & Entertainment (6,495,000 Australians, 31.1% of the population);
• General Interest (4,213,000 Australians, 20.2% of the population);
• Home & Garden (3,459,000 Australians, 16.5% of the population);
• Mass Women’s (3,151,000 Australians, 15.1% of the population);
• Business, Financial & Airline (1,340,000 Australians, 6.4% of the population).

Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says the digital ‘footprints’ of magazines are growing fast, but there are still many magazines that have a sizeable average issue print readerships:

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