Stuff cements number one position with impressive masthead growth

Stuff Group’s metropolitan mastheads have seen impressive quarter-on-quarter audience growth as Stuff cements its number one position in print and digital*, latest Nielsen readership results show. 

Stuff Group reaches 3.43 million Kiwis every month through its large stable of products which includes Aotearoa’s number one news website stuff.co.nz, national mastheads The Post and the Sunday Star-Times, regional and community titles including The Press and Waikato Times, social platform Neighbourly and a suite of premium magazines including NZ House & Garden.

Flagship subscription masthead The Post has grown its national audience by 17% this quarter, with 922,000 Kiwis a month now reading The Post in print or online, up from 788,000 in the previous quarter. The Press and Waikato Times have also seen impressive growth in their print and digital audiences, with The Press growing 16% to 738,000 and Waikato Times up 22% to 495,000.

Stuff Masthead Publishing Managing Director Joanna Norris says the results show the demand for quality journalism and the increasing prominence of The Post as a national news brand.

“The Post is where business, power and politics meet - news from the Capital for the nation,” she says. “More than 70% of thepost.co.nz’s audience lives outside Wellington**, and we have grown our Auckland newsroom with a focus on business news and analysis. Overall, digital subscriptions to our mastheads grew an impressive 27% over the last quarter***.”

Stuff Brand Connections Managing Director Matt Headland says the growth in audience for The Post, The Press and the Waikato Times - as well as stuff.co.nz’s number one position - means Stuff Group offers brands unrivalled opportunities to connect with Kiwis.

“No one gets New Zealand better than us and the engagement we deliver is truly market leading. Our audience visits more often, stays for longer and reads more. With this comes more first-party data, deepening our ability to segment and target audiences and enabling our commercial partners to reach Kiwis at scale in an extremely impactful way,” he says.

With a monthly unique audience of 2.2 million, stuff.co.nz is the country’s most loved news site**. It sees 134,000 more monthly visitors than its nearest competitor. Stuff.co.nz is also number one for engagement, with its audience spending 57% more time on page than its closest competitor.

*Source: Nielsen CMI Q3 23- Q2 24 July 24 Fused
**Source: Nielsen Online Ratings July 2024 Base AP 15+
***Source: Stuff Group