The Nightly hits 3.2 million readers, up 73 per cent in a year

A 73 per cent jump in 16 months

The Nightly attracted more than 3.2 million readers in May 2025, a 73 per cent rise on May 2024, according to Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service data cited by Seven West Media.verifiedVerified Source: sevenwestmedia.com.au^[1] The May figure was also up 7 per cent on April 2025, suggesting the growth has not yet flattened.^[1]

Seven West Media launched the title on 26 February 2024, positioning it as a free national digital masthead designed to sit alongside the group's existing broadcast and print assets.^[2] At launch, the broader Seven West portfolio already reached more than 19 million Australians a month across television, radio, print and digital, giving The Nightly an unusually large distribution base from day one.^[2]

How Australia measures news audiences

Two benchmarks form the industry currency for ranking Australian news brands. Roy Morgan's monthly cross-platform readership metric combines print, web and app access into a single comparable figure, while Ipsos iris provides independently audited digital-only numbers. Seven West Media has cited Ipsos iris data for both The Nightly and The West Australian.

Neither measurement service published the underlying raw data in the verified research bundle for this article. The figures cited here come from Seven West Media's own press releases referencing Ipsos iris, and Bushletter could not independently corroborate them through a third-party source.

The West Australian: one state, no rivals

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission confirmed in a 2004 regulatory determination that West Australian Newspapers publishes the only daily newspaper in Western Australia, The West Australian, with a daily print circulation of 220,000 copies.verifiedVerified Source: accc.gov.au^[3] That structural monopoly in print has anchored the masthead's authority in the state for decades.

Seven West Media's August 2024 investor presentation reported The West Australian's audience had reached 4.5 million unique users generating approximately 60 million monthly page views in the year to June 2024, up 10 per cent year-on-year per Ipsos iris.^[4] Those figures are drawn from company-reported data and have not been independently verified by Bushletter.

Christopher Dore, editor-in-chief of The West Australian, said the masthead's standing rests on journalists who understand the state from the inside. Dore said: "The West Australian is built on the quality of its journalism and the people who produce it, reporters and photographers who understand WA because they live it. They ask the hard questions and tell the stories that matter with depth, fairness and relevance. That is what gives the brand its meaning and authority."^[5]

Christopher Dore's editorial blueprint

Dore holds the editor-in-chief role across both mastheads, making him the dominant editorial figure in the Seven West publishing division. Before joining Seven West, Dore served as editor-in-chief of The Australian and held the editor's chair at the Courier-Mail, giving him experience running both national and state-based titles.

Dore attributed The Nightly's growth to a deliberate editorial position, saying: "The Nightly's rapid rise is a testament to our no-nonsense editorial approach. We deliver the news as it is, fast, direct and unfiltered led by some of Australia's most trusted journalists with robust, unapologetic opinion that's clearly resonating with readers across the country."verifiedVerified Source: sevenwestmedia.com.au^[1]

The dual-masthead structure means Dore is simultaneously responsible for a state-focused print-and-digital title with deep WA roots and a nationally oriented digital-only publication launched barely 16 months ago.

What the numbers do and do not show

The 73 per cent growth figure covers a single 12-month window from May 2024 to May 2025 and reflects a masthead still in its growth phase from a relatively low base.^[1] Percentage growth rates typically compress as absolute audiences scale, making the next 12 months a more meaningful test of whether the trajectory holds.

Seven West Media's August 2024 investor presentation placed the group's total monthly reach above 19 million Australians, though that figure spans television, radio and digital publishing combined rather than news audiences alone.^[4] The Nightly's 3.2 million digital readers in May 2025 represents a subset of that broader figure, and no breakdown by platform or demographic was included in the materials available to Bushletter.