Web traffic offsets readership decline for just 4 newspapers out of the top 11
Even with the addition of online readership figures, the majority of Australian newspapers are seeing a drop in audience size, a Roy Morgan report suggests. Figures indicate net readership across all metropolitan titles has fallen from 12,206,000 to 11,891,000, a decrease of 2.6%.
According to data collected from 2006 to December 2011, The Australian, Australian Financial Review, Herald Sun and The Age newspapers all achieved an increase in net print/online readership.
The Sydney Morning Herald held steady, its online and print readership dropping fractionally from 2,446,000 to 2,445,000 over the five-year period.
However, The Daily Telegraph, the Brisbane Courier Mail, the West Australian, the Adelaide Advertiser, the Perth Sunday Times have all seen a net fall in audience on and offline, according to the data.
The Australian’s readership has grown by 17% (the single largest percentage increase) and the Australian Financial Review by 13%.
RMR suggests that The Fin is the only title to have maintained its print circulation.
Every publication has seen a significant increase in website traffic, which in most instances has not offset the slump in print readership.
Roy Morgan’s data is compiled from a single source pool of respondents, although it does not include iPad and tablet readers at present.
George Pesutto, industry director at Roy Morgan, said: “Soon our app data will also be able to be combined with print and online readership data, to provide a true total masthead readership. And with assistance from newspaper publishers we will be working to measure growth in all news readership, as communication channels – such as smart TV – continue to evolve.”
Interesting stuff, but it needs a bit of historical context to put the relative data points in context.
1. News Ltd’s online masthead strategy really only kicked into gear in 2006. Before that each of their web sites (herald Sun, daily tele, Oz, courier mail) was complete rubbish. Despite the inevitable partisan responses that observation will elicit, there are measurable differences in product, content and marketing strategy pre and post-2006. Following Rupert’s 2005 “Digital Immigrant” speech to the ASNE conference they have really given online a shake.
2. In 2006 Fairfax had been going hard online for at least five years. the two major metro mastheads were pretty well resourced and the results showed.
3. In 2006 the West Australian’s online strategy was nowhere special. The site looked awful, and was poorly supported by the paper. After the Yahoo!7 tie up in 2009/10 things got a bit better.
4. In 2006 the AFR’s web strategy was, essentially, aimed at discouraging as many readers as possible from using the site and instead continuing to buy the paper. By this standard it was successful.
So, with that context in mind what do these Roy Morgan stats show?
Arguably that
a) The Age’s growth is more valuable than The Australian’s given that The Oz has come off a lower online base.
b) The Daily Tele and the Courier Mail, and to a lesser extent the West Australian, have failed to make inroads online.
c) The Herald Sun and the SMH are treading water
Oh Roy, please.
The AFR’s readership has gone up by 13%?
No disrespect to AFR but it just hasn’t.
What about the Sunday papers?
Roy Morgan continuing their tradition of “accuracy”. This is the same outfit that predicted that Labor would win the 2001 election in a landslide. That was the Tampa election which saw John Howard and the Liberals storm back into office.
And Hoin, that would be the same outfit that predicted a hung parliament on the Friday evening before the August 21, 2010 election. I’d call that ‘spot on’ and a lot more recent history. And no, I do not work for Morgan, and never have.