The Australian Financial Review is the country’s most read premium business masthead recording a cross platform readership of 3.5 million people, according to Total News readership figures released by Roy Morgan today.

In the last four weeks, 1.1 million people have read a print edition of the Financial Review, with the masthead’s print & digital quarterly growth of 3% outpacing The Australian, which recorded no growth for the same period.

The Monday to Friday print edition continued to record massive annual growth of 31% year-on-year, for an average issue readership of 261,000, while quarterly growth of 7% marks the Financial Review’s highest quarterly result since 2019. 

The AFR Weekend Saturday print edition has a readership of 183,000, posting annual growth of 13%. 

Highlighting the strength of the Financial Review’s digital offering, 76% of AFR readers engage with the masthead’s online publication, which has grown since last quarter. 

The Australian Financial Review Magazine continues to dominate Australia’s monthly magazine insert figures, with a print readership of 519,000, which has seen quarterly growth of 4% – its fifth consecutive quarter of growth – and annual growth of 21%. This is the highest quarterly growth result since December 2019.    

Nine’s Total Publishing assets reach a de-duplicated audience of 16.2 million* Australians across print and digital.

The Financial Review’s Editor in Chief, Michael Stutchbury, said the masthead had posted two successive quarters of quarterly growth, driven by award-winning journalism such as its PwC and Qantas coverage.

Premium digital subscriptions also grew strongly over the second half of 2023, as highlighted by Nine Entertainment’s results last week. 

“Notwithstanding last year’s talk about news fatigue, we’ve started 2024 with record digital readership according to our internal dashboard,” Stutchbury said. 

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

Source: Roy Morgan Research, All People 14+. All audience data is based on the last 4 weeks averaged over the 12 months to December 2023. *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! 

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

Monday, February 26, 2024