South Africa’s top online news publications revealed

The latest IAB South Africa statistics showed that News24, Daily Maverick, IOL, BusinessTech, and MyBroadband had the highest readerships in May.

The IAB South Africa is an independent association representing South Africa’s digital industry and large online publications.

The organisation represents over 200 members, including digital publishers and media agencies.

As part of its mandate, the IAB SA provides audited readership statistics for South Africa’s largest online publications.

Through its partnership with dY/dX, IAB South Africa provides an industry-wide view of audiences presented by online publishers in South Africa.

The May 2024 readership statistics showed that the 2024 national elections boosted general news publications.

News24 achieved 667,000 average active daily users and 184 million page views last month. On Thursday, it served 22 million page views as people tracked the election results.

Daily Maverick also enjoyed an exceptional performance during the election month, with 392,000 average active daily users and 13 million page views.

IOL, which also had extensive election coverage, was the third-largest publication, with 365 active daily users and 38 million page views.

BusinessTech, which serves South Africa’s business and finance sectors, was fourth with 362,000 active daily users and 23 million page views.

MyBroadband, which serves South Africa’s IT and telecommunications sectors, was fifth with 278,000 active daily users and 16 million page views.

Citizen, eNCA, Supersport, The South African, and Netwerk24 completed the top 10 online publishers.

The table below shows the top online publications ranked by average active daily users, which measures readership size.

South Africa’s largest online publishers

The IAB South Africa and dY/dX also provided a ranking of the largest online publishers in the country.

Media24 maintained its top spot with 960,000 average active daily users and 317 million page views.

Media24 is behind many of the country’s top publications, including News24, SNL24, and City Press.

Broad Media is South Africa’s second-largest online publisher, with 774,000 average active daily users and 45 million page views.

Broad Media serves specific industries through BusinessTech, MyBroadband, Daily Investor, and TopAuto.

Daily Maverick was the third-largest publisher, with 392,000 average active daily users and 13 million page views.