New emma data shows that 16.8 million Australians, or nine out of ten consumers, read news media in January 2017, and 7.8 million shopped online last week.

Data for the 12 months to January 2017 shows the Sydney Morning Herald as Australia's highest-reaching title across all platforms with 5.4 million readers, followed by the (Sydney) Daily Telegraph (4.3 million readers) and the (Melbourne) Herald Sun (4.1 million).

With a total 13.4 million readers, print continues to be the preferred platform for readers of news media, while 13 million people accessed news media via their smartphone, tablet, laptop or PC. Metro newspapers were read by 11.2 million people, or 61 per cent of consumers, in the same period.

The role of regional and community news brands in their local audiences is demonstrated by the figures which show 7.1 million people (39 per cent) read a regional or community newspaper. Regional newspapers were read by 3.2 million people (or 18 per cent aged 14+), while community newspapers were read by 4.1 million (or 22 per cent aged 14+).

News media readers across platforms are also keen online shoppers, with 7.8 million (47 per cent) shopping online in the last week. More than half of digital readers (52 per cent or 6.7 million) and 45 per cent of newspaper readers shopped online in the last week, compared to only 39 per cent of non-readers. The emma data shows that news media gives online brands and retailers a powerful opportunity to connect with shoppers and build their businesses via news media.

^NB: With the recent release of Nielsen's Digital Ratings (Monthly), thewest.com.au's mobile and tablet audience is under-represented. This is a result of restrictions in Nielsen's methodology being able to capture iOS mobile secure sessions (HTTPS) due to privacy restrictions inherent to the operating system. This gap will be addressed by Nielsen with the launch of Digital Content Ratings in the coming months.

*Source: emmaTM, 12 months to January 2017. Readership based on last four weeks. Trends compared with 12 months to January 2016. Survey conducted by Ipsos MediaCT, people 14+, Nielsen Digital Ratings (Monthly), January 2017. The emma data for the 12 months to January 2017 includes the new Nielsen Digital Ratings Monthly (DRM). This replaces the previous digital currency, Nielsen Online Ratings (NOR). Due to this change of methodology, there is a trend break in the data that means digital audience comparisons to previous periods are not valid.