The Australian has increased its dominance over The Australian Financial Review, with the readership chasm between the two rival mastheads widening in the first three months of this year.
The latest readership survey, released on Monday, reveals The Australian’s cross-platform (print and digital) monthly audience of 4.153 million is more than 20 per cent higher than the AFR’s 3.451 million.
News Corp’s national masthead reaches 1.7 times more cross-platform readers than the AFR on weekdays, while its weekend audience is 3.5 times that of the Nine-owned tabloid.
The Australian’s weekday print readership has grown 1.5 per cent in the three months to March 31, while The Weekend Australian has recorded a 5.7 per cent boost in its audience over the same period. The Australian’s business coverage remains the industry benchmark, with the masthead’s weekend business pages retaining their standing as the most widely read business section of any newspaper title in the country.
Michelle Gunn, The Australian’s editor-in-chief, said the results of the survey confirmed the masthead’s status as the nation’s most respected source of news, commentary and analysis.
“The Australian’s strong start to 2023 is a direct result of our journalists’ commitment to delivering the best content to our readers across all platforms, and to frame the national debate with depth and insight,” Gunn said.
According to the Roy Morgan figures, The Sunday Telegraph is the most read print newspaper in Australia, reaching 850,000 people each week, up 3.8 per cent over the past year. The NSW masthead boasts more than double the readership of its cross-town rival The Sun-Herald, owned by Nine.
The Herald Sun, in Victoria, is the nation’s most read weekday newspaper, lifting its Monday to Friday readership by 6.6 per cent over the past year, while its Saturday edition has grown by 4.8 per cent over the same period.
News Corp titles in Queensland have also registered extraordinary surges in readership over the past 12 months, with the Townsville Bulletin increasing its weekday audience by 19.8 per cent year-on-year, while The Gold Coast Bulletin’s has seen its weekday audience soar by 46.9 per cent compared to this time last year.
Vogue remains the top fashion brand in the country, gaining 46,000 new readers in the past three months and extending its lead over its closest competitor Marie Claire.
News Corp Australia remains the largest print and digital publisher in Australia with an audience of over 18.1 million each month (excluding digital real estate business REA). Nine’s print and digital reach (excluding its broadcast division) is 16.5 million readers per month.