UKOM endorsed data from Ipsos iris highlights the value of distributing media content across multiple platforms to grow audience reach.
A key example is Sky News, which saw its online reach increase by 58% in April, rising from 11.8 million (website and app only) to 18.6 million when distributed content on external platforms was included. Audience duplication analysis by brand can show how individual strategies compare.
The biggest uplift comes from Apple News which exposes an additional 3.8m people to the Sky News content. YouTube also has a significant incremental audience with almost 2m while MSN adds over 800K. Distribution through the Sky Publisher Network, a video plugin on various third-party sites, also contributed to the uplift. In total, these external platforms delivered an incremental reach of 6.9 million.
While individual platforms can add measurable reach, it's the combined distribution strategy that maximizes audience impact. This underscores the importance of multi-platform distribution for news publishers aiming to expand their digital footprint.
UKOM’s audience measurement via Ipsos iris offers de-duplicated audience data, enabling publishers to assess the effectiveness of different distribution partners, understand where incremental audiences are being gained and make informed decisions on content placement to boost visibility and engagement.
UKOM reported in 2023 that Sky Media, the sales arm of Sky, was the first publisher in the UK to be able to report off-platform distributed video, following development with UKOM and Ipsos iris.
