By Vanessa Lyons, CEO, ThinkNewsBrands
ThinkNewsBrands is a Fast News launch partner

The 2023 instalment of the annual Television & Media Survey was released last week.

The survey by the federal Department of Communications collects information on the screen and media content viewing practices, habits, and expectations of Australian adults and children.

It makes for interesting reading and backs up what ThinkNewsBrands has been saying for a long time about the strength of news consumption in this country.

At 173 pages long I’ll just give you the highlights.

Massive interest in news

The survey shows Australians love their news.

Of the 5776 respondents, across metropolitan and regional areas, more than half (58%) reported they consume Australian national news content at least 3-5 times a week and 88 per cent at least once per week.

These high reach and frequency figures are further proof that news content is a great media choice for advertisers wanting to build brands and reach new audiences.

Australians are getting their news on social media

It’s been said a lot, but the survey also shows that accessing news via social media is a completely entrenched behaviour for Australians and something they want to be able to do.

61% said they had accessed news via social media in the past 7 days and 83% of respondents said accessing news via social media was somewhat or very important to them.

I’ll let others continue the discussion on this one.

Trust is important

The survey makes clear that not all sources of news are the same.

Respondents said the most important factor they considered when choosing news was that it is from a source they have used before and trust (60%).

Trust is important because if media is considered trustworthy and credible, ads shown within it are more likely to be perceived as relevant and reliable by audiences.

Australia’s written news publishers’ have journalists and editors that create and fact-check written news everyday so advertisers can be sure their brands will appear alongside quality, safe and trusted content.

The 2023 Television & Media Survey is happy reading for the news industry and for the brands that advertise within it.

Check out the full report and if you want to learn more about out how written news can improve your media mix contact@thinknewsbrands.com.au

Vanessa Lyons is the Chief Executive Officer of ThinkNewsBrands.

ThinkNewsBrands helps advertisers and their agencies understand how advertising in today’s news content drives real business results.