29 January 2019 – nzherald.co.nz is now neck and neck with Stuff in the battle to be New Zealand's number one website in readership size.
According to Nielsen Online Ratings nzherald.co.nz's unique audience of 1.738 million in December 2018 is now just 13,000 (0.7%) behind Stuff across New Zealand.
In Auckland, nzherald.co.nz's audience has soared to 700,000 – more than 200,000 people ahead of Stuff, a record lead.
"The latest statistics reflect a month of strong journalism and agenda-setting news stories and issues for nzherald.co.nz," says NZ Herald editor Murray Kirkness. "And while content partnerships are vitally important for us, we have placed a
renewed focus on ensuring our newsrooms are delivering more of our own unique, engaging journalism."
Engagement levels have also lifted in the past six months, a pleasing reflection of the loyalty of the website's
audience, says Kirkness.
The numbers come at the end of a hugely successful year for nzherald.co.nz; it was judged best news website at the 2018 Voyager Awards and the NZ Herald was named the best daily news brand
(digital and print) in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific at the News Media Awards in Sydney.
The NZ Herald's print readership has also increased year on year and is now at 453,000 (year ending September 2018).
NZ Herald is planning to launch digital subscriptions in 2019, showcasing the very best of its journalism and content.
Sources:
Nielsen Online Ratings, December 2018, Base: All People 2+
Nielsen CMI Q4 2017 – Q3 2018. Base: 15+.
ENDS