The Australian Financial Review is the country’s most read premium business masthead recording a cross platform readership of 3.45 million people, according to Total News Publishing readership figures released by Roy Morgan today.

On an annual basis, the Financial Review recorded 1% growth, narrowing the gap with its direct competitor The Australian.

Highlighting the strength of the Financial Review’s digital subscription offering, 79% of AFR readers engage with the masthead’s online publication, which has once again grown since last quarter – the fifth consecutive quarter of online growth. 

The strength of the Financial Review’s journalism was on display during last week’s Walkley Awards. The masthead was part of the investigative journalism team that won Australia’s most prestigious journalism award, the Gold Walkley, for the Building Bad investigation which exposed the CFMEU’s deep links to organised crime.  

The premium business masthead – which has once again narrowed the gap with its direct competitor The Australian – recorded a print readership of 925,000 during the last four weeks, while the Monday to Friday print edition recorded an average issue readership of 265,000. This was its second highest quarterly result since 2019. 

The Australian Financial Review Magazine continues to dominate Australia’s monthly magazine insert figures, with a print readership of 502,000, up 1% year on year. This compared to its direct competitor Wish that has had a readership drop of -22% year on year. Fin! Magazine has also seen quarterly and annual growth (1% and 7% respectively) and closing in on Wish. 

Editor-in-chief James Chessell said: “These results reflect the high quality and award-winning journalism in The Australian Financial Review. With our focus on growing our subscriber base, our digital strategy continues to gain strength as is evidenced by nearly 80% of our audience engaging with our sites.”

Nine’s Total Publishing assets reach a de-duplicated audience of 15.99 million* Australians across print and digital.

The Total News Publishing readership figures are produced by Roy Morgan for ThinkNewsBrands. 

Source: Roy Morgan Research, All People 14+ for the 12 months ending September 2024. All audience data is based on the last 4 weeks averaged over the 12 months to September 2024. *This figure includes: nine.com.au, SMH Print & Digital, The Age Print & Digital, AFR Print & Digital, Brisbane Times, WA Today, Domain Digital, Good Weekend VIC & NSW, Sunday Life VIC & NSW, Domain NIM VIC & NSW, AFR Magazine, Fin! Print Platforms include: SMH Print, The Age Print, AFR Print, Good Weekend VIC & NSW, Sunday Life VIC & NSW, Domain NIM VIC & NSW, AFR Magazine, Fin!

For further information, please contact:
Adrian Motte
Senior Communications Manager – Trade & Publishing
amotte@nine.com.au

Monday, November 25, 2024