The Australian’s digital audience jumps 21 per cent to 3.77m in July

The Australian’s digital audience surged 21 per cent to 3.77m in July from the previous month, making it the biggest gain among the top 10 news sites across the nation.

The Australian is the fastest-growing top 10 news site in the country, increasing its audience as the public seeks out authoritative news and analysis on the coronavirus pandemic and the economic crisis.

The Australian’s digital audience surged 21 per cent to 3.77 million in July from the previous month.

The jump cements the performance of The Australian, published by News Corp Australia, as the No 1 subscriber-only news site in the country.

Other news sites also recorded a rise in their online audience, with News Corp’s news.com.au recording the second-biggest move, up 20.2 per cent last month to 11.63 million, according to latest figures from data and analytics group Nielsen.

Australians are flocking to news sites during the coronavirus crisis, with the second wave in Victoria triggering fears of more cases in other states.

News Corp’s Melbourne-based The Herald Sun saw a 25 per cent jump in online audience to 3.3 million, outpacing an 18 per cent increase in Nine Entertainment’s The Age, during July.

In Sydney, The Daily Telegraph increased audience 14 per cent in July to 2.95 million, compared with a 12 per cent rise in The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine’s Sydney and Melbourne-based news sites offer limited free access.

Nine’s subscriber-based Fin­ancial Review was the only masthead to go backwards during July, posting a 6 per cent drop in audience numbers to 2.49 million.

 

The ABC, which gives away content for free, retained its top position among digital news sites, with audience increasing 7 per cent to 13.2 million. The Guardian, also a free news site, experienced the slowest audience growth among major sites, increasing 1 per cent in July.

Collectively, Australians spent nearly 45 million hours consuming news online last month, up 51 per cent from a year earlier.

Nielsen said the biggest year-on-year percentage increase was via computers, up 54 per cent in total time spent. News consumption on mobile rose 50 per cent.

The Australian last year joined a small group of major news­papers, including The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times, to record more total paid subscribers now than at the peak of newspaper sales.

Digital subscribers at News Corp’s Australian mastheads increased to 647,600 at the end of June, compared to 517,300 for the same period last year.