Australians seek out entertainment and sports news online as a balance to serious news events – Ipsos iris data released for March 2024

Australians sought out a mix of more light-hearted entertainment and sports news content to balance the serious news events occurring locally and internationally, according to the Ipsos iris data for March.

Key celebrity and entertainment news, such as the AFL and NRL season launches, particularly the NRL Las Vegas event, the Sydney Mardi Gras parade, the Oscars winners and red carpet, and the final weeks of TV programs Married At First Sight and the Australian Idol winner grabbed the attention of Australian online news readers. Other more serious news, including Princess Katherine’s cancer diagnosis, the Matildas’ Sam Kerr’s alleged racial slur to a police officer, the wars in the Ukraine and Gaza, youth conflict in Alice Springs, the arrest of Samantha Murphy’s alleged killer, the Baltimore Bridge collapse and Moscow Concert Hall attacks, rounded out interest in online news in March.

More than 20.7 million people used a news website or app in February, reaching 96.6% of online Australians aged 14+.

The chart above shows the News brands’ ranking during March 2024 by online audience size.

Ipsos iris, Australia’s digital audience measurement currency endorsed by IAB Australia, showed the most consumed website and app categories in February were search engines (21.3 million), social networking (21.3 million), technology (21.3 million), retail and commerce (21.1 million) and entertainment (21 million).

A total of 21.5 million Australians aged 14+ used the internet in March and spent on average 4.3 hours per day, or almost 134 hours in the month, online.

Sports was the fastest growing category, up 11.2% in March compared to February 2024. It was followed by automotive (up 1.9%) and health (up 1.7%). The average time per person spent on the sports category rose by 29.8%, reflecting the commencement of the AFL, NRL and Super Rugby seasons.

Lifestyle websites and apps also saw a significant increase in average time spent per person online for the month, growing by 11.4%.

Fit nation
Among online content consumption category insights, younger Australians aged between 14 and 24 appear to be on a fitness trend, driving the increase in health website and app audience – up 8.2% compared to February 2024.

Four in five of the health apps used by this age group were fitness related, including the Sweat Coin app (274,000 online users), Flo Period and Ovulation Tracker app (258,000), Samsung Health app (154,000), Strava app (154,000) and Google Fit app (153,000).

Overall use of health websites and apps rose 1.7% to almost 18.3 million Australians on the month prior and the time spent on health news jumped by 28.4% over the same period.

The chart below shows the Health brands’ ranking during March 2024 by online audience size.

Ipsos iris, which officially launched in March 2023, provides accurate data about the 21.5 million Australians aged 14+ who access a wide variety of digital content and services across smartphone, PC/laptop and tablet devices.