APN a clear leader in newspaper readership stakes

Wednesday, 01 March 2006

APN a clear leader in newspaper readership stakes

The Herald on Sunday has taken the number one spot for Sunday newspaper readership in both Auckland and the Northern region according to the latest Nielsen Media Research readership survey.

The Herald on Sunday's sister publication The Weekend Herald is New Zealand's leading newspaper with a readership of 628,000, and in the key Auckland and Northern region markets, the Weekend Herald delivers twice as many readers as any other weekend newspaper. The Northern Region is the area north of Taupo, home to 53 percent of New Zealand's population.

The Herald on Sunday has a 332,000 total readership, 303,000 in the Northern Region and 203,000 in Auckland. In Auckland the Herald on Sunday delivers 16,000 or 9% more readers than any other Sunday newspaper.

As a result of APN's launch of the Herald on Sunday in late 2004, the total Sunday newspaper market has experienced significant expansion with Sunday readership in Auckland ahead by 18 percent.

Combined, the Weekend Herald and Herald on Sunday reach 85 percent of all weekend readers in Auckland.

The New Zealand Herald has held its place as New Zealand's number one daily with a typical daily readership of 547,000 and one million readers over a week. The Herald consistently delivers more than 500,000 readers a day and has more than twice as many readers as its nearest daily newspaper competitor.

APN National Publishing CEO Ken Steinke said:

"The Herald and the Herald on Sunday offer advertisers a strong duo of titles to meet specific campaign needs. Each publication holds a leadership position in its core market and provides a targeted advertising environment. Packaged together, they provide an unrivalled reach into the key markets of New Zealand.

"Our titles continue to strengthen as we constantly review our offerings against the needs of readers. This week's launch of our new weekly business magazine The Business is a good example of our innovation in the media market."

The Herald is a leading source of news information. Not only does readership of the daily newspaper remain strong, the Herald's website continues to go from strength to strength with around 400,000 unique users every week and 1.1 million every month.

"While other media audiences continue to fragment, the APN newspaper stable is growing to deliver strong reach into New Zealand's most valuable markets," Mr Steinke said.

The Nielsen Media Research National Readership survey of 14,077 respondents covers the calendar year from January 2005 to December 2005 and measures the newspaper and magazine readership habits of 3,175,000 New Zealanders aged 15 and older.

About APN New Zealand
APN News & Media is a successful broad-based media company that publishes New Zealand's leading metropolitan daily newspaper, The New Zealand Herald as well as the Herald on Sunday and the community magazine, The Aucklander.

APN also publishes nine daily newspapers outside Auckland, including the Bay of Plenty Times, Hawke's Bay Today, Rotorua Daily Post, Wairarapa Times-Age, Wanganui Chronicle, the Northern Advocate and the community newspaper the Christchurch Star.

ENDS

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