Herald readership hits new level

Readership of the Herald newspaper has risen again -- to its highest level in a generation.

The paper is now read by 607,000 people aged 15 and over a day - above this decade's highpoint of 603,000 in 2003 and higher than for any other period since 1991.

When Nielsen online data for nzherald.co.nz is considered, the combined daily brand audience for the Herald (print and online) rose 79,000 to 764,000.

At the same time, the Christchurch earthquake pushed record audiences to nzherald.co.nz during September as readers were kept up-to-date with the latest news from the city, Neilsen readership figures show.

Martin Simons, chief executive of APN's New Zealand media business, said nzherald.co.nz continued to show impressive growth trends, with the domestic audience increasing by 31 per cent over the 12 months.

The site's domestic weekly audience averaged 798,000 over the most recent quarter, with a record domestic audience of 941,000 during the week of the earthquake.

This period also saw the successful launch of the Herald's iPad application in June with 24,000 downloads made to date.

The Nielsen survey involved face-to-face interviews of 12,000 people aged 10 and older throughout the year.

The Nielsen Media Research figure for the year to September 30 shows an average daily gain for the Herald newspaper of 39,000 readers on one year ago.

The Weekend Herald rose by the same amount, to 657,000, clearly the best read edition of any newspaper in the country, and double the readership of any other daily paper.

Mr Simons said the strong results pointed to a bright future.

"Brands that have developed strong emotional connections and deliver a consistent quality experience for the consumer will continue to lead the market. These survey results prove this trend."

The Herald has increased its market share of metropolitan daily readership, with other papers' audiences falling as ours has grown.

The Herald on Sunday, increased its readership by 3000 to 383,000 over the same period, dominating the Auckland and northern regions in its market. Fairfax Media's nationally-circulating Sunday Star Times fell by 42,000 to 528,000.

Magazines inserted into the Herald all had strong performances, with Canvas, TimeOut, Travel, Viva and The Business Herald posting readership results much higher than a year ago. The Business Herald on Friday has more than five times as many readers as any other business magazine in the country.

Another APN publication, the Woman's Weekly, added 36,000 readers during the year, extending its lead over its main competitor Woman's Day.