National News Consumption Habits revealed in latest Sky News Australia audience study – Sky News Australia has today revealed a +24% growth in its audience since 2021, with 11.3 million Australians now engaging with the brand each month.
This forms part of the new Sky News Australia Audience Study 2026 which unpacks Australians’ news consumption habits and preferences.
The 2026 report, now in its third iteration, examines how people consume news and what news agenda items drive continued interest, revealing that Australians are accessing multiple news providers to inform and shape their opinions, including a suite of traditional news brands.
The study shows that while Australians consume their news across multiple platforms, people are more likely to identify a TV network as their main news service. It also reveals that Cost of Living remains the most critical issue for Australians today across all generations, though it hasn’t impacted Sky News viewers’ propensity to purchase which is up significantly across all categories since the last report.
Paul Whittaker, Chief Executive Officer, Sky News Australia said:
“Following a pivotal period of growth we have doubled down to seek new ways to amplify our reach and diversify our audience profile, with the results of this study revealing our growing network as one of the leading news sources in the country.
“The research has indicated our multiplatform approach is resonating with Australians. We ended 2025 with Sky News ranked as the number one overall channel on Foxtel for the first time since 2021, our regional free-to-air channel Sky News Regional delivering its highest rated year ever and our SkyNews.com.au subscription service’s closing base rising +68%.”
The key findings include:
- Sky News grows its monthly unique audience to 11.3 million Australians (up +24% from 9.1 million in 2021), reaching 41% of the national population every month.
- The average number of platforms Australians use to access news has risen from 3.7 (2021) to 5.1 (2026).
- Sky News viewers, on average, access 5.6 news sources compared to three for non-Sky News viewers; with people more likely to identify a TV network as their main news service. One in five (18%) of Sky News viewers consider it to be their main source of news.
- Sky News is being accessed across a mix of TV, owned and social platforms. The average viewer is accessing Sky News across 2.5 platforms per month (up from 2.2 in 2023).
- Viewers value Sky News’ news coverage and opinion commentary as well as a wide range of opinions. Over half (52%) say Sky News Australia is the most engaging news service in the country, with 66% agreeing the network has the news live as it’s breaking and 62% noting Sky News has opinion commentators they can relate to.
- Sky News political and social commentary resonates with viewers, with 64% believing it provides a forum for healthy debate amongst different groups and 57% believing Sky News has the most comprehensive political coverage in Australia.
- Local Australian personalities dominated unaided recall, with Paul Murray, Andrew Bolt and Peta Credlin the top three online personalities or commentators people engage with for news and current affairs content, with Sharri Markson and Chris Kenny also in the top ten.
- Sky News economic and business content is considered essential viewing for ambitious and focused professionals with one in two people aged 25-54 saying news and information from Sky News Australia helps them keep ahead of the competition (50%) and helps them do their job better (49%).
- As identified in the previous (2023) study, all generations – Baby Boomers (83%), Gen X (84%), Gen Z (73%), Millennials (79%) – still see Cost of Living as the issue of most importance to them. Again, issues around Healthcare & Hospitals and the Australian Housing Shortage are ranked second and third respectively – Baby Boomers (82% and 69%), Gen X (75% and 70%), Millennials 70% and 69%) and Gen Z (60% and 64%).
- The Cost of Living crisis hasn’t impacted the propensity to purchase with more people planning to buy across all key categories. Sky News viewers are significantly over-indexing for purchase consideration across all categories including Entertainment (51%), Streaming (47%), and Travel (44%) – all considering making a purchase in the next six months.
Sky News Australia Commercial Director Cathryn Adams said:
“Our latest audience study reveals more people are consuming our journalism on digital, streaming and mobile platforms, whilst also showcasing most Australians still consider a broadcast brand as their main news source.
“The study provides valuable insights for advertisers looking to reach savvy Australian news consumers across every screen, unpacking where and how audiences choose to watch, read and listen to Sky News Australia.”
Hoop Research Group Director Liz Farquharson said:
“Across the last three Audience Studies we have witnessed shifts in platform composition and strong audience growth for Sky News Australia. Australians are clearly evolving their news behaviours across digital and streaming but they still tell us traditional TV news brands remain their main source, especially when trust matters. Sky News Australia is attracting a highly engaged news consumer who values breaking news, quality coverage and debate.”
For more information and further research findings visit www.skynews.com.au/audiencestudy
*Sky News Australia commissioned Hoop Research Group to conduct an independent Audience Study, replicating the study of 2021 & 2023, to track key shifts in audience profiles, behaviours, attitudes and news consumption. The national representative survey of n=5018 Australians aged 18+, included Sky News viewers (n=4010) and non-Sky News viewers (n=1008). The findings in this document are the results of a survey in field from October to December 2025, combined with platform currency data averaged from September to November 2025, and form the basis for deduplication calculations. Final reach figures are validated by Audience Research. The contents of this report may be reproduced, provided that appropriate credit is given to the source: Sky News Australia Audience Study, Hoop Group 2025.
Sources:
- Kantar STB Data, Linear data, Total People, Average Audience, Linear Foxtel Share % 1 min cume reach.
- Source: Linear – OzTAM Regional FTA, Total People, Ave Aud, Share %, 1min Cume Reach & Overnight. Note – Ratings only include the 4 markets Sky News Regional ratings are captured – QLD, NNSW, SNNW, VIC
Media Release – Sky News Australia
Link to Sky News Australia HERE
TV Central Sky News Australia content HERE
National News Consumption Habits revealed in latest Sky News Australia audience study
