The UK’s desktop-only online population remained level in September 2015 with a total of 45.4 million individuals accessing the internet through PCs or laptops.
Breaking down September’s online population by social grade shows that C1s make up the biggest group, accounting for 28% of the monthly desktop-only audience. The set, which is made up of the ‘skilled working class’ (supervisory, clerical & junior managerial, administrative, professional occupations), totals almost 13 million people.
The B social grade made up the second biggest group with the middle classes accounting for 27%, translating to 12.3 million users over the month.
The ‘upper middle class’ households (social grade A) came in as the smallest group, with 2.3 million users (5.2%), with the ‘non working’ (social grade E) narrowly beating that with 2.6 million users (5.6%).
Top newspaper brands
Mail Online remained the UK’s most popular online newsbrand in September, attracting 24% of the entire desktop audience. In total a little over 11 million users visited the DMGT-owned site, representing a small -5% fall, with time spent per person averaging out at a healthy 47 minutes.
Left wing rival The Guardian experienced better fortunes, witnessing a noticeable 15% (1.2 million users) rise in activity. In total 9.5 million people accessed the site from their desktops, falling behind its more popular rival by nearly 1.6 million users.
Although the gap between with the top two competitors wasn’t monumental, comparing time spent per person tells a different story. Mail Online‘s average of 47 minutes surpassed The Guardian‘s comparatively paltry 13 minutes.
The biggest actual month on month loss in the top ten belonged to two separate sites, with both regional news owner Newsquest Media Group and the DMGT-owned Metro.co.uk suffering from a -10.3% fall.
| UK rank | Site | Sep 15 (000s) | Aug 15 (000s) | Change (000s) | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | Mail Online / Daily Mail [P] | 11,040,000 | 11,636,000 | -596,000 | -5.1 |
| 51 | The Guardian [P] | 9,464,000 | 8,225,000 | 1,239,000 | 15.1 |
| 61 | Telegraph Media Group [P] | 8,459,000 | 8,257,000 | 202,000 | 2.4 |
| 116 | Independent & Evening Standard (ESi Media) [P] | 5,606,000 | 5,425,000 | 181,000 | 3.3 |
| 140 | Mirror Online [M] | 4,876,000 | 5,273,000 | -397,000 | -7.5 |
| 199 | Newsquest Media Group [M] | 3,648,000 | 4,069,000 | -421,000 | -10.3 |
| 233 | Johnston Press Plc [P] | 3,246,000 | 3,296,000 | -50,000 | -1.5 |
| 281 | Local World Sites [P] | 2,900,000 | 3,066,000 | -166,000 | -5.4 |
| 346 | EXPRESS.CO.UK [M] | 2,494,000 | 2,406,000 | 88,000 | 3.7 |
| 408 | METRO.CO.UK [M] | 2,139,000 | 2,384,000 | -245,000 | -10.3 |
Source: comScore MMX (desktop only) approved by UKOM
Top lifestyle sites
Conde Nast Digital, a digital property made up of brands such as Vogue, Glamour, GQ and Wired, was September’s most visited lifestyle property, accounting for 5.2 million users. This represents a 10% increase in activity over the month, with each user, on average, spending 16 minutes visiting the site over four sessions.
In second place was Hearst Magazines International Digital, a portfolio made up of a range of sites such as DigitalSpy.co.uk, Reveal.co.uk and MensHealth.co.uk, and secured 3.2 million visitors after a small month on month loss of -1.3%.
BBCGoodFood.com, home of last-minute recipe ideas, witnessed a 12% increase in activity, resulting in 2.5 million visitors, who on average visited the site twice over the month.
Online property Meredith Digital also had a good September, seeing a 10% increase in visitors, with the collection of sites (including AllRecipes.co.uk, MarthaStewart.com and FitnessMagazine.com) pulling in 2.1 million visitors and a five minute dwell time per person.
| UK rank | Site | Sep 15 (000s) | Aug 15 (000s) | Change (000s) | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 126 | Conde Nast Digital [P] | 5,210,000 | 4,743,000 | 467,000 | 9.8 |
| 244 | Hearst Magazines International Digital [M] | 3,167,000 | 3,208,000 | -41,000 | -1.3 |
| 347 | SheKnows Media [P] | 2,467,000 | 2,670,000 | -203,000 | -7.6 |
| 354 | BBCGOODFOOD.COM [M] | 2,453,000 | 2,188,000 | 265,000 | 12.1 |
| 398 | AOL Lifestyle [M] | 2,213,000 | 2,016,000 | 197,000 | 9.8 |
| 406 | Meredith Digital [P] | 2,143,000 | 1,941,000 | 202,000 | 10.4 |
| 446 | MSN Lifestyle Network [SC] | 1,977,000 | 1,874,000 | 103,000 | 5.5 |
| 455 | Aufeminin – Livingly [M] | 1,947,000 | 1,873,000 | 74,000 | 4.0 |
| 516 | auFeminin Sites [C] | 1,734,000 | 1,633,000 | 101,000 | 6.2 |
| 528 | Telegraph Lifestyle [C] | 1,681,000 | 1,888,000 | -207,000 | -11.0 |
Source: comScore MMX (desktop only)
Note: [P] Property – [M] Media Title – [C] Channel – [SC] Subchannel – [G] Group – [SG] Subgroup
Further breakdowns and reports can found in Mediatel’s Online database.
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