The latest Nielsen latest readership survey offers good news for print and for NZME mastheads in particular.
The New Zealand Herald maintained a daily brand audience of more than one million people – a 12 percent increase year on year. That weekly brand audience, print and online, has witnessed an increase of 32,000 since the previous period, reaching 1.588 million. The Herald has an average print issue readership of 415,000 a day, with 769,000 over a week. The Herald on Sunday’s readership increased two percent to 326,000 in 2017.
The Nielsen survey reports that each reader spends an average of 42 minutes with the paper each week. During the week, readers will spend 38 minutes each day with the Herald.
The Herald is continuing to engage with New Zealanders across multiple platforms, not just print. The NZ Herald Facebook page receives six million engagements in a week. In addition, print readers are also keeping up to date throughout the day, checking the website and NZ Herald app.
The Weekend Herald has 466,000 readers. Combined with the Herald on Sunday, NZME’s weekend newspapers reach more than half a million readers every week. Shayne Currie, managing editor at NZME, says, “To see people taking their time to read the paper in an age when everyone is time-poor is extremely encouraging. It proves New Zealanders are interested not only in the news, but the investigative journalism and specialised content that the Herald offers.
“We have a fantastic team of editors who do an outstanding job leading their teams to provide top-level content. We’re looking forward to bringing New Zealanders more exclusives and in-depth reports across news, sport, business and entertainment in 2018.”
Matt Headland, chief commercial officer for NZME, says, “To see the time New Zealanders spend with their newspaper each day, and then their continued engagement across the app, social media and website, is not only humbling for us, it is reassuring for advertisers. This gives them the confidence that their message will reach its intended audience – however they choose to deliver it. Combine this with NZME’s radio and digital offering, and they instantly have a comprehensive campaign all under one roof.”
