)
Australians’ love affair with the big screen reignited in May, with audiences using movies and cinema websites and apps hitting 5.9 million nationally, the second highest online audience for the category on record, according to data released by digital audience measurement platform Ipso Iris.
The growth was led by Australian cinemas which posted their strongest May on record, with box office sales hitting $119 million during the month - 26 per cent above the previous May benchmark set in 2019 - as a broad slate of blockbusters, biopics, horror titles and family films drew audiences back to the big screen in force.
The Ipsos Iris data shows the number of Australians visiting movies and cinema websites and apps grew 15 per cent year-on-year to 5.9 million in May.
The result was fuelled by major box office releases including the highly anticipated Devil Wears Prada sequel, the Michael Jackson biopic Michael, Mortal Kombat II, the movie adaptation of the popular science fiction novel Project Hail Mary and Hugh Jackman’s new movie The Sheep Detectives.
According Ipso iris, nearly one in four online Australians aged 14 and over visited a cinema chain's digital platform during the month.
Hoyts led the digital gains, with its online audience reaching 2.56 million, up 33.9 per cent year-on-year.
Event Cinemas surpassed two million digital visitors, a 4.7 per cent increase, while Village Cinemas grew its online audience by 19.2 per cent and Palace Cinemas lifted 17 per cent.
Total time spent on cinema websites and apps rose more than 20 per cent compared with the same month a year earlier.
The broader digital landscape showed 22.57 million Australians aged 14 and over used the internet in May, spending an average of 4.96 hours online each day.
Against that backdrop, the cinema sector's ability to capture a growing share of digital attention, alongside record physical attendance, signals continued strength for an industry that has now comprehensively surpassed its pre-pandemic highs.
The latest Ipsos Iris data shows that 21 million people used a news website or app in May, reaching 93.2 per cent of online Australians aged 14 and over, with users spending around 3.39 hours in May reading news online.
Nationally, the alleged abduction of a five-year-old girl in Alice Springs and the subsequent arrest of a 47-year-old Northern Territory man was a top news story, while stories on an ISIS bride accused of owning a slave in Syria also received significant attention.
Other trending Australian stories included the 2026 Federal Budget, with analysis of its “winners and losers” sparking interest, along with singer Delta Goodrem’s performance at Eurovision, the NRL first State of Origin game, including fullback Kalyn Ponga being sent off, and the AFL, particularly the off-season trade chaos.
Globally, the Middle East conflict continued to dominate headlines, along with red carpet coverage of the 2026 Met Gala, the UK’s local elections, the deaths of five international divers in the Maldives, Premier League football final winners, live coverage of the Champions League football final between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal, and the heatwave conditions at the French Open tennis.
Also in the online space, the career category continued its record growth in May, with its highest audience growth year-on-year for the third month in a row, increasing by 6.3 per cent.
This was followed by events and attractions (up 2.9 per cent), energy suppliers/utilities (up 2.8 per cent), technology (up 2.07 per cent) and entertainment (up 1.95 per cent).
)
