It being a leap year, the year’s shortest month was bequeathed with an extra day – the quadrennial 29th of February. While we’d typically see lower reader engagement growth at this time than at any other point in the year, February 2024 was full of content bloomers.

Taylor and Travis amp up Music & Audio

Notably among them – and as forecast in Planning Ahead for 2024 with Reading the Nation – was a rise in interest in Music & Audio content. That said, the reader engagement growth seen was far higher than we predicted. In fact, the content rose to the top of our charts for monthly page views growth with an increase of +68%.

The month was top and tailed with two big events that typically pique the interest of music fans across the Ozone Premium Web platform – the Grammy Awards in the US and the UK’s BRIT Awards. As a result, there was related page views growth for the Music TV and Awards Shows topics which increased +104% and +75% respectively.

However, February’s unexpectedly large Music & Audio increase was due to a significant amplification of interest thanks to… wait for it… the Super Bowl and for reasons not typically associated with the NFL’s biggest game. Yes, R&B star Usher assembled an Avengers-level squad of stars for his knockout half-time show, but it was the limelight hogging love story between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce that truly stole our hearts. Interest in the newly minted global power couple was so high that 62m Music & Audio page views in February were almost 50% higher than the monthly average since 2021. The Taylor and Travis effect, of course, also boosted reader engagement with American Football, with page views 2.5x higher month on month. Tellingly, compared to February 2023, engagement with the sport was +500% higher annually.

Property builds on improving market outlook

Elsewhere, there was further reader engagement growth for Property content in February as the outlook for the UK housing market continued to improve. Overall, 33m page views for the content increased +18% month on month, with the Buying & Selling topic – a key growth driver – up by almost a third. Annually, engagement with the topic in the first two months of 2024 is +23% higher than the same period last year.

While there’s still a great deal of market uncertainty for the remainder of the year, falling mortgage rates, house prices growth for the fifth consecutive month and increased interest in Property content among our nationwide audience of online consumers are strong indicators of returning confidence. We’ll continue to watch this area closely.

Fashion Weeks fuel Style & Fashion

Now, over to the catwalks of New York, London, Milan and Paris, and February’s four fashion majors fueled interest in our publishers’ influential Style & Fashion editorial. While monthly page views for the content fell -9% month on month, reader engagement was still far higher in comparison to what we’d typically see (we think this event may have momentarily captured the attention of fashion fans).

Overall, 94m Style & Fashion page views in February were +49% higher than the month’s average in the past three years.

Sport gets the final word

A final word on Sport this month as there’s heaps more to come for the nation’s favourite pastime in 2024. The Six Nations kicked off in the first week of February to grow reader engagement with Rugby content +40% compared to January. Annually, page views increased by more than two thirds.

Also starting in February, the 2024 Formula 1 season began in Bahrain. The sport’s picked up lots of new fans in recent seasons – thanks, in part, to Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive documentary series – but the Red Bull / Christian Horner controversy also drove interest. Auto Racing page views grew significantly, with reader engagement 3.5x higher month on month.

Looking ahead

Below we look ahead to the rest of March plus April and May for a selection of seasonal events where reader engagement growth with content across the Premium Web can be expected…

March

• ISA season: Typically, Personal Finance page views will grow by a quarter on the Budget and ISA season. The Saving and Personal Investing topics, up +40% and +25% on average, will drive growth

• Cheltenham: March’s Cheltenham Festival will drive Horse Racing interest with topic page views 3.5x higher on average month on month. In April, the Grand National will boost engagement again

• Easter: On average, engagement with Bank Holiday content grows by 3.8x in March the Easter lead up as consumers seek out the best ways to spend their time away from work

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

Easter and Ramadan

Next month, the clocks ‘spring forward’ during long bank holiday weekend, bringing extra joy the nation as we collectively celebrate time away from work with family and friends. With the changing seasons, and Easter and Ramadan taking place in March, our latest insights delve into the content areas and trigger points where reader engagement growth can be expected in the lead up to these celebratory occasions

Want more first-party data insight?

Planning Ahead for 2024 with Reading the Nation is our third annual guide to what our nationwide audience is reading across the premium web and it’s packed with content. Created to showcase the sheer scale and value of our unique first-party data, the guide provides insight into the seasonal and topical events driving reader engagement with content across the Ozone platform.