Ozone’s Reading the Nation insight series provides a seven-day view of the topical news and seasonal events driving reader engagement across our nationwide audience of more than 40m online consumers.
Last week, the ongoing Easter holidays continued to drive reader engagement with content areas across Ozone’s Premium Web platform, as online consumers sought out ways to spend time off. There was seasonal growth for Movies and Travel content as a result.
Topical News
Last week, the start of three days of rolling walkouts by train drivers from the Aslef union began, driving reader engagement with Careers content, but sadly not trains. This April is the 22nd month of national rail strikes, which have persistently blighty rail travellers, commuters and businesses across the UK. As a result, there was +85% page views growth for the Unions topic and five-fold growth for Remote Working.
There was double-digit page views growth for Science content as – first – Taiwan and New York were rocked by earthquakes, and – then – skygazers prepared for this week’s total solar eclipse. The Astrology and Geology topics grew +32% and 11% respectively.
Seasonal Events
The school Easter holidays continued last week and – as we expect at this time of year – we saw reader engagement for related content areas, including Movies and Travel, continue to blossom.
Timed for the holidays, the cinematic release of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire grew Movies page views by +20%. Expect a further boost for the content next month when the Cannes Film Festival takes place.
Up +16% week on week, Travel was driven by interest in UK destinations, with the topic up +23%. For those travelling further afield, there was also growth of more than a fifth for the Air Travel topic.
Coming Up
April
The Grand National: Horse Racing page views in April are 2.5x higher than the monthly avg. on Grand National interest
Back to school: On average, the post-Easter return to school will grow Items for Children page views by +29%
The London Marathon: Running page views grew more than four-fold in April 2023 on London Marathon interest
May
Eurovision: Typically, Music & Audio page views will grow by +38% in May on Eurovision interest. As an appointment-to-view TV event, the content will drive related Television growth of c.20%
Football season ends: The end of the season and cup finals drive Football engagement to avg. May growth of a third. Football interest will continue into June and July with the Euros
Spring Bank Holiday: On average, Bank Holiday page views increase by +28% in May on the Spring Bank Holiday
June
Champions League Final: Football page views grew +52% in June last year as Man City won the Champions League final. The 2024 final takes place on Saturday, 1 June.
EURO 2024: Expect Football engagement to be c.30% higher in June 2024 when UEFA EURO 2024 kicks off on Friday, 14 June. The final takes place on Sunday, 14 July.
Father’s Day: Planning for the perfect Father’s Day present grew Gifting page views by more than a quarter last year. This year, the occasion takes place on Sunday, 16 June.
Glastonbury Festival: Headlined this year by Dua Lipa, SZA and Coldplay, expect Festivals page views to increase 3.5x on Glastonbury and the start of summer festival season.
