New research from Roy Morgan has revealed that Total News Publishing (all print and digital news) continues to reach 97% (21.5 million) of Australians aged 14 years and over each month.

The research found that readers across all demographics were actively leaning into news, with 67 million interactions each week. Australian news readers are also consistently engaged across multiple sources of written news, with three in five news audiences reading three or more categories in addition to general, breaking news.

Roy Morgan said the figures reflect the evolving news media landscape and demonstrates the breadth of audience accessible via news media.

"The sheer reach of Total News Publishing is staggering and shows advertisers can access any audience they're after via Total News Publishing," said CEO of news media industry body ThinkNewsBrands, Vanessa Lyons. "News is 'lean-in' premium content. Audiences aren't scrolling past it, they're actively engaged, and that means much higher engagement for ads placed within news."

State and territory mastheads received large readership numbers outside their local markets, due to digital accessibility. State-based titles had incremental of up to +137% and most saw a doubled readership.

"The millions of additional interstate readers enjoyed by state/territory mastheads represent immense incremental value and out of the box options for advertisers," said Lyons.

Readers across the top titles within the Auto, Business & Finance and Lifestyle & Health news categories are 20%-35% more likely than the general population to have high discretionary spending. Business category readers are significantly more likely to be very confident in their financial situation (36% more likely than the general population).

"At a time when ROI has never been more important, the data shows news delivers the right kinds of high quality commercially favourable audiences for advertisers," Lyons said.

The latest readership figures had Nine's The Sydney Morning Herald as Australia's most read news brand, with a cross-platform readership of 7.27 million readers.

“The news cycle has been relentless in the first quarter of 2024, and the millions of readers who turn to our mastheads for quality and accuracy have shown their willingness to invest in premium journalism,” said Executive Editor Luke McIlveen. “We're delighted with the subscription growth across The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age and we will continue to deliver the thoughtful, independent journalism our readers expect.”