APN Publications voted leaders by readers

News Release – Embargoed until midday Friday 30th May, 2008

APN Publications voted leaders by readers

APN’s newspaper and magazine titles have again led New Zealand in attracting new readers, measured by the latest national survey undertaken by The Nielsen Company.

Fastest growing newspapers

The New Zealand Herald and the Herald on Sunday are the fastest growing paid newspapers in the country. The Herald’s readership grew by 34,000 to 593,000 readers on a typical day, while the Herald on Sunday was up by 43,000 readers to 371,000 readers.

The Herald on Sunday’s readership growth was noted as ‘significant’ by Nielsen Media against general population growth trends.

NZ Herald – Best read newspaper

Readership for the NZ Herald has grown steadily over the last four readership releases and the Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Weekend Herald editions now have significantly higher readership than any other newspaper in New Zealand.

The Herald’s growth in readership has been more than twice the rate of population growth resulting in an increase in market reach. This was particularly strong in Auckland where reach has increased from 38.9% to 41.1%.

The Herald has also achieved a large increase in readership of its newspaper-inserted magazines. Viva sectional readership (Wednesday) has increased by 44,000 or 20%. Time Out (Thursday) is up by 57,000 or 21% and Canvas has grown by 35,000 or 10%. Development of these titles has resulted in good gains in women readers with female readership of the Herald growing by 7%

Record readership for the Herald on Sunday

The Herald on Sunday has recorded the largest year on year increase of any newspaper in New Zealand and is the clear leader in Sunday newspaper readership in the northern region of New Zealand.

The paper is the only Sunday title to increase readership in the northern region with 38,000 more readers over the same 12 months last year.

In the key Auckland market the Herald on Sunday’s readership has increased by 14% – five times the rate of Auckland population growth of 2.8%. Reach into the Auckland market has moved from 20.6% to 22.8% with 62% of Auckland Sunday newspaper readers now reading the Herald on Sunday.

The Weekend Herald and the Herald on Sunday are ranked the number one and two weekend newspapers in the northern region.

Leadership in Magazines

The latest survey has again confirmed the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly as New Zealand’s leading newsstand magazine with a readership of 882,000. The New Zealand Woman’s Weekly has 37,000 more readers than any other weekly woman’s magazine.

The New Zealand Listener is the fastest growing publication in the Current Affairs magazine category with an increase of 19,000 readers to 297,000, while Creme Magazine is the only teen title to show readership growth, increasing readership by 2,000 to 131,000 over the last 12 months.

Award winning publications

Chief Executive Martin Simons said the readership numbers confirmed the decision of the judges who selected the Herald on Sunday as New Zealand’s best newspaper and the New Zealand Herald as the country’s best daily at the 2008 Qantas Media Awards recognising outstanding journalism

“The Nielsen survey counts the votes of the real judges, our readers,” he said

“The success of our metropolitan newspaper titles, coupled with the strong performance of our magazine portfolio, was an outstanding result for APN in a very competitive market environment.”

ENDS

Source: Nielsen Media Research, National Readership Survey: April 2007 to March 2008, April 2006 to March 2007. All People 15+

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