The Australian online readership doubles during coronavirus crisis

The Australian has more than doubled its online audience with readers hungry for the latest news and analysis.

A surge in readership has made The Australian one of the top 10 news sites in the nation. Picture: AAP

The Australian has more than doubled its online audience to 4.9 million, as the public scrambles for the latest news and analysis on the coronavirus crisis, making it the No 1 subscriber-only news site in the country.

The masthead’s digital audience surged by 110 per cent over the 12 months to March, and by 101 per cent month-on-month as readers sought the latest on the health crisis and economic fallout.

The audience surge makes The Australian, which is published by News Corp Australia and sits behind a paywall, one of the 10 most popular news sites in the country for the first time since September 2018.

Other news sites also saw a rise in their online audience, but Nine Entertainment’s Sydney and Melbourne-based news sites give away a lot of their stories for free before readers have to subscribe. Others including The Guardian, The Daily Mail and the ABC giveaway their journalism for free.

Editor-in-chief of The Australian Christopher Dore said the results showed Australians were demanding trusted and reliable news during the health and economic crisis.

"What the results show is Australians are hungry for news, and are turning to the sources they can trust, which is great for every serious organisation in our industry, regardless of your view of the world," Dore said.

"What is special for The Australian, as opposed to the other news sites in the Top 10, is readers are prepared to pay for it, and evidently place a high value on our journalism.

"This is content that gives insights into the upper echelons of government and business, as leaders make extraordinary life-changing decisions, calls that will change our country forever.

The latest figures from data and analytics group Nielsen come as The Australian last year joined an elite group of four major newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times and the New York Times, to record more total paid subscribers now than it did at the peak of newspaper sales.

The Australian’s online business traffic also surged 20 per cent to break the 1 million barrier, as the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a stock market crash. The Australian’s business audience reached more than 1.15m during March. The gains for business readership follow a 42 per cent jump in online audience in February.

 

The Australian’s managing director, Nicholas Gray, said it was an impressive result, and thanked staff for their hard work.

“This is the largest digital monthly unique audience ever for an Australian news site with a comprehensive paywall, and we are also pleased to be welcoming record numbers of new digital subscribers,” he said.

“I am very proud of the way our editorial, digital and marketing teams have come together to serve our readers whilst adapting to new and often challenging personal circumstances.”

The Australian's rising popularity comes as Nielsen reported on Tuesday a 57 per cent jump in readers across the nation's top 10 news sites last month from February.

Another of News Corp's news sites, news.com.au, saw its online audience jump by 31 per cent to nearly 12.3m.

Sky News Australia has also seen record audience numbers during the COVID-19 crisis, which has hit the economy and advertising revenue.

Sky News said on Tuesday it has been the No.1 channel on pay-television platform Foxtel, which is majority-owned by News Corp, for more than five weeks. Its audience has jumped by 63 per cent to 2.4m over the five weeks to April 7.