Record readership for South African online news publications – Top websites and publishers revealed

South African online news publications are on the forefront of providing accurate and timely information about the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown.

President Cyril Ramaphosa recently applauded the media for its indispensable contribution to the national effort to confront this crisis.

“Through its reporting on the disease, the media has helped to inform and empower South Africans, stimulate public debate, and promote accountability,” Ramaphosa said.

“The media has had to fulfil this role under the difficult conditions of lockdown, which has required new ways of working and reaching readers, listeners and viewers.”

The preferred method for millions of South African to access information about COVID-19 was using online resources.

With the widespread distribution of fake news and false reports on social media, South Africans flocked to online publications for reliable news.

The importance of trusted news was clearly visible in the record readership numbers of South Africa’s top online news publications during the lockdown.

South Africa’s largest online news publication, News24, grew its readership to 11.6 million unique browsers in May.

IOL, BusinessTech, and TimesLive also attracted very large audiences over the last month with 8.7 million, 8.2 million, and 6.9 million unique browsers respectively.

The table below lists the readership figures for South Africa’s largest online publications, based on the May 2020 Narratiive report.

Narratiive is the official traffic measurement partner of the IAB South Africa and provides accurate traffic and demographics statistics for South Africa’s top websites.

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Biggest online publishers in South Africa

Narratiive Measure also tracks statistics for online publishers, showing the total reach of a publisher’s websites.

24.com is by far the largest online publisher in South Africa, with a combined readership of 24 million unique browsers across its online news publications.

It is followed by Arena Holdings, Caxton Digital, MyBroadband, and Independent Online.

The table below shows the top online publishers in South Africa, ranked according to local readership.

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