The Sydney Morning Herald remains the nation’s most-read masthead

The Sydney Morning Herald has held its position as the most-read masthead in the nation, with a cross-platform readership of 6.9 million, according to new data from Roy Morgan.

The figures, which are based on the measure of monthly average audience, point to about one in three Australians reading the Herald.

While cross-platform readership dipped 2.8 per cent compared with the last quarter, the figures show the Herald is well ahead of rival The Daily Telegraph, which has cross-platform readership 3.98 million.

The Sydney Morning Herald has cross-platform readership of 6.9 million.

The Herald’s Monday to Friday print edition had an average issue readership of 374,000, the Saturday Herald had a readership of 479,000, and The Sun Herald print edition is read by 371,000 people.

Victoria’s The Age also maintained its place as the nation’s second most-read cross-platform masthead, with cross-platform readership of 4.56 million people, ahead of its main rival The Herald Sun, which had cross-platform readership of 4.23 million

“The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age are the nation’s most-read mastheads because we have the best reporters and writers in the business,” executive editor Luke McIlveen said.

“With a fiercely contested federal election on the horizon, our millions of readers know they can depend on our newsrooms to deliver the most accurate, insightful, up to date and balanced news across all platforms.”

Good Weekend, which is published across the Herald and The Age, is read by 657,000 people per issue, on average, while Sunday Life had an average issue print readership of 348,000.

Good Food had a total news readership of 1.59 million people across print and digital. This masthead’s owner, Nine Entertainment, late last year launched the Good Food app, which gives readers access to recipes, restaurant news, and reviews.

More broadly, Roy Morgan’s data found 22 million Australians were reading the news every month and 18.4 million on a weekly basis. Ninety-three per cent of news consumers accessed up to five different news brands each month, it said.

ThinkNewsBrands chief executive Vanessa Lyons said the data showed how much news had become a part of everyday life for much of the population. “With 22 million people tuning in each month, it’s clear that news brands are doing something right in keeping people informed and engaged,” she said.

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