Courier-Mail’s digital audience surged to nearly 4 million Aussies in March, new Ipsos iris report finds

An independent report has ranked The Courier-Mail as the nation’s third-biggest state-based news brand last month for digital results – only trailing the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Chris Jones, editor of The Courier-Mail, said he was thrilled with the results. Picture: Liam Kidston

The Courier-Mail’s digital audience soared to almost four million Australians in March, according to the latest Ipsos iris news media report.

The report ranked The Courier-Mail as the nation’s third-biggest state-based news brand last month – behind the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

The audience result of 3.95m also saw The Courier-Mail edge out the Australian, on 3.9m – and fall just short of the New York Times, which was read (or perhaps its popular puzzles played) by 4.01m Australians.

The Courier-Mail’s average engagement time per reader in March was also up 53 per cent on a year ago, Ipsos iris said.

The report confirmed The Courier-Mail’s dominance over any of its Queensland-based rivals – with almost one million more Queenslanders turning to us in March digitally than the next-biggest news brand that is based out of here. The total time our readers spent consuming our content was more than eight times higher than theirs.

Queensland State Managing Director Laura Maxwell with The Courier Mail Editor Chris Jones

These figures follow the latest quarterly Roy Morgan cross-platform report’s recent news that The Courier-Mail had cemented its position as the nation’s fastest growing major print and digital news brand, up 12.6 per cent over the past year.

Editor of The Courier-Mail Chris Jones said the results were further proof of the value of punchy, insightful and agenda-setting news coverage from reporters who live in the same communities that they serve through their journalism.

“When Cyclone Alfred menaced the coast, our team were there - covering the breaking news 24 hours a day to ensure our community was supported.” Jones said.

“In a world of infinite choice and the proliferation of AI, it is encouraging to see Queenslanders return to a brand that generations before have trusted for their news.”

“The Courier-Mail has been proudly serving Queensland since 1846 – almost 180 years. We are stronger than ever in terms of the influence we have in pushing for the right outcomes for the state that we love just as much as our readers do.”

The digital audiences of our sister mastheads the Gold Coast Bulletin, Townsville Bulletin and Cairns Post also soared in the past year. The Gold Coast cracked one million in March.

Originally published as Courier-Mail’s digital audience surged to nearly 4 million Aussies in March, new Ipsos iris report finds