The news media industry has experienced a strong growth in audiences over the last year, figures published this week confirm.
According to the latest National Readership Survey release, the overall digital and print audience of UK newsbrands has risen to 46.7 million adults each month.
Nine in 10 adults in Great Britain consume a newsbrand either in print or digitally, according to the figures.
Seventy per cent of GB adults aged 15 or over read a print newspaper and 71 per cent consume newsbrand content via their PC or mobile device.
On average, mobile adds a further 78 per cent audience reach to individual newsbrand footprints.
Speaking about the Daily Mirror’s strong growth online, Trinity Mirror group marketing director Zoe Harris said: “It’s pleasing to see our focus on the multi-channel approach is reflected in the increasing audience numbers.
“We are focused on providing content that is relevant to our audiences and at a time and place which suits them. Clearly digital is a big part of this nowadays and we have therefore been investing in our mobile apps and websites as well as working to keep our newspapers relevant and fresh.
“The mix of content our newsbrands provide across our main pillars of news, sports, entertainment and real life is what defines us as the intelligent tabloid and is clearly continuing to appeal to a broad range of readers.”
Meanwhile, the six monthly regional press ABCs published yesterday also show large rises in online audiences for the sector in 2015.
Local newspapers which report six monthly experienced a total rise of 26.7 per cent in daily unique browsers in the period Jan-Jun 2015 on Jul-Dec 2014.
Commenting on Newsquest’s performance, the publisher’s digital director Mark Smithsaid: “We’re still seeing substantial growth the length and breadth of the UK. The Northern Echo saw growth of 45 per cent and the Daily Echo in Southampton 46 per cent. It’s a reflection of the significant resource we have dedicated to making sure we provide compelling content and great user experiences for our local audiences.
“It’s also satisfying to see that our audience growth mirrors the growth in our display advertising client base which is showing similar strong growth in 2015.
“We expect our audience growth to continue for the rest of the year and increase further as we bring the websites from the newly acquired Romanes Group onto the Newsquest platform.”
