New Zealand Herald Jumps in Readership

New Zealand Herald Jumps in Readership
Readership Results Show Growth for NZME Print

21 June 2018 – The New Zealand Herald has seen some impressive growth according to the latest Nielsen survey released today. The average issue readership is sitting at 459,000 a day, up 8% from this time last year. There are now 822,000 Kiwis reading the Herald over a week; an increase of 53,000, which is a leap by industry standards.

The Herald on Sunday’s readership has grown since the last period, reinforcing its position as the best-read and top-selling Sunday newspaper. It has increased 7% to 349,000 compared to the previous release.

The Weekend Herald has grown its readership to over half a million for the first time since the June 2014 release, with 515,000 readers.

Weekend newspaper readers are highly engaged; on average people spend 49 minutes on a Saturday reading the Weekend Herald, and 44 minutes with the Herald on Sunday.

The New Zealand Herald has also maintained an impressive and engaged daily brand audience (print and online) of more than one million people, and has gained another 50,000 in this survey. The weekly New Zealand Herald brand audience (print & online) has seen an increase of 80,000 more Kiwis since the previous period, reaching 1,668,000 people.

The Herald is continuing to engage with New Zealanders across multiple platforms. The NZ Herald Facebook page reaches on average, 843,000 users a day. Of those reached, 35% of people reached are engaging with the content by clicking through, liking, sharing or commenting. Readers are not only reading the printed edition, but are also engaging with The Herald brand online and via the app.

All NZME magazine( Canvas, Timeout, Viva, Business, Bite, Spy and Sunday Travel) saw increased readership. NZ Herald Travel has 368,000 unique readers across the Tuesday and Sundayeditions, and Weekend and Canvas reach 293,000 readers each, every Saturday.

In the regions, three of NZME’s titles saw growth. Rotorua Daily Post, Northern Advocate and Hawke’s Bay Today all gained readers. The latter is a stand out, with an average issue readership of 50,000 people, an impressive 13.6% increase compared to this time last year.

NZME regional newspapers reach 151,000 people on a typical day and 260,000 across a week.

NZME Managing Editor Shayne Currie says the readership growth shows New Zealanders value premium journalism and that newspapers continue to play a valuable and essential role in people's lives.

“We have a fantastic team of editors and journalists who do an outstanding job producing top-level content across all platforms. It's very easy for a typical media business to focus on one or two platforms - the beauty of NZME is we're building audiences and producing our journalism on all levels, including print, digital, social, radio and video.

"There's even more exciting times ahead, as we fully focus on expanding our premium journalism, and building a deeply engaged audience."

NZME Chief Commercial Officer Matt Headland says the strong engagement across the Herald and magazines gives advertisers the luxury of being able to speak directly to their audience.
“The growth we have seen in print over this survey gives our advertisers the confidence that their message will reach the right audience. The growth of different publications within the NZME wheelhouse helps us create multi-platform campaigns when combined with NZME’s radio and digital offering, meaning our clients can make sure every dollar has the highest return possible.”

Sources:
Nielsen CMI Q2 2017 – Q1 2018, AP15+
Facebook Business Manager May 18

ENDS

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