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80% Of Adult Australians Turn To Digital News Sites And Apps To Stay Informed

3 minute read | June 2021

Sydney, 30 June 2021: The extraordinary growth in digital news consumption in 2020 has been sustained during the beginning of 2021 with 80%3 of adult Australians turning to digital news sites and apps to stay informed and updated every month. 


Digital Media Ratings volumetrics data, released by Nielsen, highlights some of these evolving digital consumer behaviors as our country registers spikes in COVID cases and restrictions come in place again to reduce the spread of the virus. Total time spent registered its peak on May 27, 2021 reaching 1.6 million hours1, while the second-highest was recorded on June 27, 2021, reaching 1.5 million hours2 as NSW went into lockdown.

When looking into what has driven the uplift it was primarily driven by news content consumed on mobile devices with the average daily time spent increasing in June by 12%4 in comparison to the same month last year. The average daily time spent consuming news content in June 2021 on desktop devices, whilst 6%5 lower than the same month last year, increased by 9%6  from May 2021.

Sources: 

1.Digital Media Ratings, Daily Volumetrics, 27 May 2021, Digital C/M, Current Events & Global News Sub-category, Total Time in hours
2.Digital Media Ratings, Daily Volumetrics, 27 June 2021, Digital C/M, Current Events & Global News Sub-category, Total Time in hours
3.Digital Content Planning, Text, Jan – April 2021, Digital C/M, Current Events & Global News sub-category, Universe Reach %.
4.Digital Media Ratings, Daily Volumetrics, 1 – 27 June 2020 vs 1 – 27 June 2021, Mobile, Current Events & Global News Sub-category, Daily average of Total Time in minutes YOY comparison as a % increase. 
5.Digital Media Ratings, Daily Volumetrics, 1 – 27 June 2020 vs 1 – 27 June 2021, Computer, Current Events & Global News Sub-category, Daily average of Total Time in minutes YOY comparison as a % increase. 
6.Digital Media Ratings, Daily Volumetrics, 1 – 31 May 2021 vs 1 – 27 June 2021, Computer, Current Events & Global News Sub-category, Daily average of Total Time in minutes MOM comparison as a % increase.

About Nielsen

Nielsen Holdings plc (NYSE: NLSN) is a leading global data and analytics company that provides a holistic and objective understanding of the media industry. With offerings spanning audience measurement, audience outcomes and content, Nielsen offers its clients and partners simple solutions to complex questions and optimizes the value of their investments and growth strategies. It is the only company that can offer de-duplicated cross-media audience measurement. Audience is EverythingTM to Nielsen and its clients, and Nielsen is committed to ensuring that every voice counts.

An S&P 500 company, Nielsen offers measurement and analytics service in nearly 60 countries. Learn more at www.nielsen.com or www.nielsen.com/investors and connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

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Nielsen

Sara Guainazzi

sara.guainazzi@nielsen.com

0478409112