March data reveals Australians are seeking a balance in their news consumption, turning to a mix of entertainment and sports news to counterbalance serious news events.

The latest Ipsos data shows celebrity and entertainment news, such as the AFL and NRL season launches, the Sydney Mardi Gras parade, the Oscars, and TV programs like Married At First Sight and Australian Idol, have caught the attention of Australian online news readers during the past month.

At the same time, serious news such as Princess Katherine's cancer diagnosis, Matildas' Sam Kerr's alleged racial slur to a police officer in the UK, the Baltimore Bridge collapse and wars in the Ukraine and Gaza also gained significant interest as online news items during March.

In March, more than 20.7 million people used a news website or app, reaching 96.6% of online Australians aged 14+. The most consumed website and app categories in February were search engines (21.3 million), social networking (21.3 million), technology (21.3 million), retail and commerce (21.1 million), and entertainment (21 million).

A total of 21.5 million Australians aged 14+ used the internet in March and spent an average of 4.3 hours per day, or almost 134 hours in the month, online.

Sports was the fastest-growing category, up 11.2% in March compared to February 2024. It was followed by automotive (up 1.9%) and health (up 1.7%). The average time per person spent on the sports category rose by 29.8%, reflecting the commencement of the AFL, NRL and Super Rugby seasons.

Lifestyle websites and apps also saw a significant increase in average time spent per person online for the month, growing by 11.4%. Younger Australians aged between 14 and 24 appear to be on a fitness trend, driving the increase in health website and app audience - up 8.2% compared to February 2024.

Four in five of the health apps used by this age group were fitness-related, including the Sweat Coin app (274,000 online users), Flo Period and Ovulation Tracker app (258,000), Samsung Health app (154,000), Strava app (154,000) and Google Fit app (153,000).

Overall use of health websites and apps rose 1.7% to almost 18.3 million Australians on the month prior and the time spent on health news jumped by 28.4% over the same period.

Ipsos iris, Australia's digital audience measurement currency endorsed by IAB Australia, officially launched in March 2023. In February 2024, the CTV audience currency integration from a data partnership with OzTAM launched, providing total unduplicated digital audience currency data for CTV, smartphones, tablets, and computers.

Ipsos said iris is fully privacy compliant and cross-media ready and will continue to evolve with a roadmap of enhancements over 2024 and beyond.