The Sydney Morning Herald is still the nation’s most-read masthead
By Staff reporter
The Sydney Morning Herald has maintained its position as Australia’s most-read masthead, with a cross-platform readership of 7.2 million, according to figures released by Roy Morgan on Monday.
The figure, based on the measure of monthly average audience, means about one in three Australian readers choose the Herald, putting the masthead well ahead of competitors The Australian and The Daily Telegraph.
The Sydney Morning Herald is the country’s most-read masthead.Credit: Wolter Peeters
The Herald’s print edition on Monday to Friday has an average issue readership of 381,000, while the Saturday paper has a readership of 477,000. The Sun-Herald’s print edition is read by 395,000 people.
Victoria’s The Age is Australia’s second-most-read masthead, with a multi-platform readership of more than 4.6 million. News Corporation’s The Australian has a readership of slightly more than 4 million, and The Daily Telegraph has a readership of 3.9 million.
The Australian Financial Review, owned by the Herald’s owner Nine Entertainment, has a readership of more than 3.5 million.
The figures are for monthly average audience and are based on a survey of people aged over 14 for the year to June.
Readership of Good Food, published across the Herald and The Age, increased 16 per cent in the last quarter to 1.6 million, while Traveller’s readership jumped by 12 per cent to nearly 1.3 million readers.
Good Weekend is read by 690,000 people per issue on average. Sunday Life has a readership of 356,000 and Domain has attracted 455,000 readers.
In total, the mastheads under Nine Publishing – the Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, WA Today and Brisbane Times – reach an audience of more than 16 million.
Executive editor Luke McIlveen said the Herald’s dominance over rivals was testament to the bond between its journalists and the audience.
“Our readers trust us to write the truth – sometimes at great personal risk to our journalists and their sources – and we try to live up to that expectation every day,” McIlveen said.
“Nowhere was this more evident than our exclusive series on the corruption and criminality at the heart of the CFMEU, which has been the most important piece of journalism in Australia in 2024. In a fiercely competitive and uncertain media landscape, the Herald remains true to the principles carved out in our newsroom 193 years ago.”
More broadly, Roy Morgan’s data shows 21.7 million Australians are reading the news.
ThinkNewsBrands chief executive Vanessa Lyons said news readers are a highly engaged and attentive audience.
“Audiences aren’t scrolling past news – they’re accessing multiple news brands and content categories every month with repeated interactions,” she said.
“Continuing to seek out news in a cost-of-living crisis really proves the importance Australians place on it.”
The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.