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West Australian Newspapers’ online news sites thewest.com.au and PerthNow dominate WAtoday in Neilsen figures

The West Australian
West Australian Newspapers’ total dominance of online news in the State is on display again today as new figures reveal PerthNow and thewest.com.au audience is more than five times that of WAtoday.
Camera IconWest Australian Newspapers’ total dominance of online news in the State is on display again today as new figures reveal PerthNow and thewest.com.au audience is more than five times that of WAtoday. Credit: Countryman

West Australian Newspapers’ total dominance of online news in the State was on display again today with the latest Nielsen figures.

Data for the month of July revealed PerthNow had three million unique browsers. And thewest.com.au — which operates with a hard paywall where you have to pay to read most stories — had 1.5 million.

The Nine-owned WAtoday — which operates with a soft paywall — had only about 860,000 unique browsers.

This means the total audience for West Australian Newspapers for July was more than five times the Nine website.

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On a daily basis, the gap can be as much as eightfold.

For example, on July 23 the combined WAN audience was 425,461 unique browsers. This was eight times the audience that day for WAtoday.

WAN Editor-in-Chief Anthony De Ceglie said the latest figures were further proof the company was investing in the future of online news while “holding the line” with newspaper readership.

“There are still more than 400,000 people who read the physical copy of our newspaper each weekday,” he said.

“That audience is extremely important to us and, of course, very valuable to our advertisers.

“But putting out a must-read newspaper every day doesn’t mean we can’t also foster rapid growth in our online products.”

De Ceglie said he was extremely proud of some of WAN’s most recent digital innovations, including the daily radio show The West Live.

“The show is really going from strength to strength and winning over a loyal audience,” he said.

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