That’s entertainment: 21.8 million aged 14+ used entertainment sites and apps in May, with Gen Z’s leading the charge – Ipsos iris data
Australians love their entertainment, with 21.8 million, or 98% of the population aged 14+ using an entertainment website or app in May, and Gen Z is leading the charge, according to the latest Ipsos iris data.
Online consumption of entertainment sites and apps during May increased by +3% year on year, and Australians spent 20% of their online time, or almost one hour a day, in May on entertainment related content.
A staggering 99.4% of Gen Z have used an entertainment website or app in May, making them the most likely of all generations to use this type of content online. Gen Z spends 28% more time than other age groups on entertainment and are 50% more likely to engage with comedy content.
There are differences in the entertainment content that Gen Z men and women use, although social video and music are very strong across both. Gen Z men spend 75% more time on the entertainment category than their female counterparts driven by their greater consumption of online games, while women account for 78% of entertainment (social) video audiences.
The chart above shows the Entertainment brands’ ranking during May 2025 by online audience size for Gen Z (women and men aged 14-24).
Australians spending longer consuming online news content
In the News category, Australians spent 5.3 hours in May consuming news content online, which was up +8.0% compared to the previous month and +8.4% compared to the same time last year. Interestingly, The same number of people are consuming news content, but they are spending more of their time on news.
A total of 21.4 million people used a news website or app in May, reaching 96.5% of online Australians aged 14+.
There has been a swathe of global and local trending news events that are capturing Australians’ attention online. In Australia, The Labor Party’s landslide win in the Federal Election, the NSW mid-north coast floods, and the continuing mushroom poisoning trial dominated local news events. Globally, the Papal Conclave in Rome and the election of the first American Pope Leo, and ongoing conflicts including the Pakistan – India attacks in Kashmir, the Israel – Hamas conflict and the Ukraine conflict with Russia, plus celebrity news such as the Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs trial and the New York Met Gala dominated online reading.
The chart below shows the News brands’ ranking during May 2025 by online audience size.
Time spent online continues to rise in May
Australians aged 14+ spent 4.8 hours per day, or 148 hours, on average online in May which was an increase of +4.7% compared to the same time last year.
Ipsos iris, Australia’s digital audience measurement currency endorsed by IAB Australia showed that 22.12 million people aged 14+used a website or app in May.
The most consumed website and app categories in April were social networking (22.1 million), search (22 million), technology (21.9 million), retail (21.8 million) and entertainment (21.8 million).
The Automotive (+8.9%), Events & Attractions (+4.6%), Sports (+3.3%) and Careers (+2.3%) categories experienced the highest month on month audience growth in May.
Categories with the largest year on year audience increases were recorded by the Automotive (+11%), Homes & Property (+10.9%), Career (+7.3%), and Health (+5.4%) categories.