Being the first publication to land in inboxes every night is a big reason behind Seven's The Nightly's three consecutive months of growth, according to editor-in-chief Christopher Dore.
The digital-only national newspaper, which is based out of Perth, sends out a nightly newsletter at 6:00PM and last week hired Nicole Waudby as director of commercial strategy, now has a unique monthly audience of 2.3 million readers.
Ipsos iris figures for June show a 24% leap in audience, up from 1.86 million in May, with the audience rising 163% since its first Ipsos iris-recorded month of March.
“It’s hitting the right note with audiences on several levels: the bold journalism with a unique perspective, the fierce and fearless opinion, the design of the app, and, of course, the special element, the touch of the past, delivered with an eye to the future – the digital edition of the afternoon newspaper,” Dore said.
“The sharp, funny, pointed headlines and the edgy design are pretty special too. There is nothing like The Nightly in the market.”
Aside from its core team of reporters, The Nightly draws on 7NEWS journalists around Australia and overseas correspondents, international brands The Economist, The New York Times and The Washington Post, as well as London’s Daily Mail newspaper.
The majority of the audience for The Nightly is mostly women, based in NSW and Victoria, and 56% of its audience is under 55.
Dore said that advertisers are keen to tap into those demographic profiles and are “astonished at the impact” The Nightly is having five months since launch.
“Clearly brands are happy to be associated with such a strong new masthead, which is modern, clean and has all the power of the traditional newspaper,” he told AdNews.
It hasn’t been an easy time for The Nightly’s parent company in recent months, however – Seven West Media has suffered through scandals relating to the Bruce Lehrmann and Ben Robert-Smith trials, the early resignation of CEO James Warburton and redundancies that claimed 100 people, including three senior executives.
Dore said that readers and advertisers haven't been put off by the headlines, however.
"Readers and advertisers aren’t silly. They absolutely get it when rival news outlets are having a crack or taking cheap shots at competitors. Audiences love what they read and watch," he said.
"They don’t get distracted by the games others play, or by the contrived controversies."
Although he wouldn’t be drawn on the “exciting plans” in the works to expand the product, Dore did say that The Nightly will keep evolving and responding to audiences.
“We aren’t shackled by any of the restrictions that make traditional publishing so costly and cumbersome, which gives us the agility and freedom to experiment, and be super responsive to audiences,” he said.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.