In March, Nielsen released a report on digital news consumption from its Digital Content Ratings (DCR) data. We had a look over the data, and these are the key statistics found in the report.

Time spent on news digital sites and apps are up 29% and weekday engagement on news sites nearly doubled.

The Nielson report showed that the changes which occurred in March 2020 meant people sought out new and stimulating information. This group of people also returned to news websites for regular updates. The overall time users spent on news digital sites and apps went up by 29% in March when compared to the same period in February.

Desktop usage growth outpaced smartphone growth.

Additionally, the Nielsen DCR data, also reported that a weekday engagement from 16th – 20th March saw a significant incline in time spent on news websites - nearly doubling when compared to the four prior weeks. And, almost groundbreakingly, desktop usage growth outpaced smartphone growth with desktop time increasing 58% and phone time rising 48%. 

People aged between 18 to 29 experienced the most significant shift in consumption behaviour (+93% in comparison to the previous four weeks).

While all age groups have increased, younger people aged between 18-29 experienced the most significant shift in behaviour. The time they spent on news sites nearly doubled for weekdays in March (up 93% vs previous four weeks). The largest volume increase was from people who are aged 30-39 years. Last but not least, older Australians, who typically are big digital news consumers, also experienced an increase in time of 28%. Nielson DCR data expected desktop usage would continue to increase with the increasing amount of people working from home.

Are you thinking about revamping your digital marketing strategy? Internet users are online and engaged - now is the time.