Latest Nielsen Online Ratings figures show Stuff has broken a new record, reaching a unique audience of 2.175 million in November, a month dominated by big news events including the US election and the devastating Kaikoura earthquake.
Fairfax Media group editor Sinead Boucher says Stuff’s monthly unique audience grew 102,000 from October, “reinforcing its position as New Zealand’s favourite news destination, ranking just behind global giants Google and Facebook”.
“This outstanding result reflects that New Zealanders choose Stuff first when important news events happen,” she said. “Our dedicated presence in local communities all over the country ensures that when major events happen we are on the ground informing our audience quickly, and telling the local stories that matter.
“In the case of the quakes we were able to immediately direct dozens of journalists from around the region and nationally to cover the big story, and Stuff’s live blog was an important source of timely information for Kiwis.
“In fact on the Monday of the quakes we had our biggest traffic day ever, miles ahead of our previous highest traffic day which was just the week prior on US election day.”
Boucher attributes the success of the election coverage to a dedicated political team who provided the latest information from an international perspective but with all the implication sand context that mattered to New Zealanders. She says Stuff’s visuals, graphics, analysis and coverage was world class and the record breaking audience figures at the time reflected both the depth and quality that kept audiences glued.
Stuff has continued to grow its reach as it has developed into a prominent Kiwi brand since its launch in 2000. In March 2014 it reached an audience of 1.5 million, surpassing Trade Me to become New Zealand’s top domestic site in July 2015. More recently in March 2016 Stuff broke the 2 million audience mark.
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