Digital continues to drive news brands consumption, with 18 million people accessing news brands via digital platforms every day, rising to 31 million weekly and 39 million monthly
According to the latest PAMCo data, news brands collectively continue to outperform social media platforms on audience reach. Every month, news brands reach 43.4 million people, equivalent to eight in 10 UK adults. This puts them ahead of Instagram (42.7 million) and well ahead of TikTok (30.7 million) and X (22.3 million).
But scale is only part of the story. The PAMCo data supports Newsworks’ latest research, which found that news brands’ large breadth of content makes them one of the most culturally relevant mediums to consumers. What’s more, their ability to drive cultural relevance for brands helps to drive sales for advertisers.
Crucially, news brands’ audience is not defined solely by interest in current affairs. They also demonstrate strong engagement with passion-led content such as sport, food & drink, travel, film & TV, music and health & fitness. More than eight in 10 (82%) daily news brand readers enjoy lifestyle content, compared with 78% of X and Instagram users and 77% of TikTok daily users.
In addition, news brand readers show a naturally strong appetite for hard-news content, including news, politics, finance, technology and AI, science and the environment. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of news brands’ daily audience enjoy this type of content, compared with 65% of X users, 62% of Instagram users and 59% of TikTok daily users.
