The Nightly’s audience surges again according to industry-audited IPSOS iris figures for July

The extraordinary growth trajectory for The Nightly continues at pace, with the latest official figures showing yet another milestone increase in audience.

The unique audience for The Nightly, the national news website that features a digital-only newspaper, surged by 14 per cent in July, adding an extra 322,000 readers for the month.

Official IPSOS iris data for July shows the Seven West Media-owned The Nightly reached an audience of 2.62 million for the month, compared to 2.3 million in June.

The Nightly had almost 200,000 more readers in July than the Australian Financial Review and established an audience 85 per cent the size of The Australian, a remarkable result for a masthead that published its first story just six months ago. Over the same period, The Australian dropped 13.6 per cent of its digital audience.

The Nightly also recorded a significant increase in page views, with 6.6 million for the month of July — a 32 per cent increase on June.

The Nightly’s audience hails predominantly from the eastern states, with 62.5 per cent of readers from New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.

The demographic breakdown also reveals significant audience growth for The Nightly among the under 40s age group, with 34.6 per cent month on month growth.

Launching in February, The Nightly is a unique masthead, a revival of the afternoon newspaper but published digitally at thenightly.com.au each weeknight at 6pm AEST.

The Nightly is not running with the pack, it’s not shackled by the restraints of the old media players, nor is it running any agendas or caught in those self-indulgent bubbles.

The Nightly’s core team of journalists — alongside columnists from around Australia and the world — focus on the national news agenda with no-nonsense journalism and pointed commentary on politics, business, world news, social issues, sport and culture.

The Nightly also draws on a huge range of stories and columns from renowned national brands such as The New York Times, The Economist, The Washington Post, CNBC and London’s Daily Mail newspaper.

Editor Sarah-Jane Tasker said the audience growth had been exceptional, and the appetite for The Nightly’s unique brand of journalism across Australia just keeps growing.

“There’s nothing like The Nightly in the Australian media and our audience numbers keep proving that point,” she said.

“Our bold front pages, cutting social commentary and agenda-setting news will keep getting bigger and better.”

Editor-in-Chief Christopher Dore said the numbers were even more impressive given The Nightly’s brand was still in its infancy. But The Nightly was already having an impact on national affairs.

“There is an abundance of clutter in the news media market, information is bombarding readers from every direction. So much of it is white noise, bland and directionless. The Nightly doesn’t miss, and readers are noticing,” he said.

“You can’t be part of the pack and make a mark. The Nightly is not running with the pack, it’s not shackled by the restraints of the old media players, nor is it running any agendas or caught in those self-indulgent bubbles.”

The audience numbers have been driven by The Nightly’s app which has grown to more than 100,000 downloads, giving subscribers access to the unmatched notification network, delivering breaking news faster than any other outlet, directly to the phones of readers.

Dore said it was also an exciting time for The Nightly, which was on the hunt for journalists, on a recruitment drive to add talent to its roster.

Source: Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, July 2024, News Category, Brand group. Age 14+, PC/laptop, smartphone, tablet, text only, Audience (000s), Page Views (MM).