Comscore: Online users stabilized in April (but up 10% over 2025). Mediaset News reports good news.

The month of April saw a further consolidation of Italy's digital audience following the return to normality seen in March: the peak due to February's major events is now a thing of the past. Comscore data confirms this: on average, the 46 million Italians connected to the internet spent 73 hours online during the month, approximately one hour less than the previous month (-1,6%). However, this isn't a structural saturation point: the year-over-year comparison highlights both a 10% increase in total time spent compared to April 2025, and a leap forward in the average monthly time per visitor (+9,9%), approximately 6 hours more over the twelve months. The decline in April compared to March is therefore cyclical: the arrival of spring and the traditional long weekends have pushed Italians away from their computer desks. 

Among large international properties, the month's adjustment phase is evident: across the top twenty, there are widespread declines in unique visitors, with declines in most cases ranging between 1% and 3%. The only positive exceptions (+1%) are Alphabet (Google, YouTube), ByteDance (TikTok), and Yahoo. In this context, the OpenAI ecosystem (14,8 million unique visitors) stands out: Italians nearly doubled the average time spent on the AI ​​property, going from 37 minutes in April 2025 to 71,5 minutes in April 2026, a sign of a strengthening of ChatGPT's daily adoption. 

RaiNews remains at the top of the list of publishing brands, with 31,5 million unique visitors overall. Despite an 11% decline from March, the public service outlet maintains its lead by leveraging third-party distribution, with a social media component of 29,9 million users (Social Incremental Reach of 196%). In second place is the local aggregate Citynews with 29,3 million unique visitors (-3%), leading the desktop and mobile component (24,6 million), followed by Sky TG24 Sites with 25,2 million (-14%). The real surprise in the Top 10, however, is News Mediaset Sites: the news aggregate recorded an 8% increase, moving it from seventh to fifth place overall with 19,7 million unique visitors. 

The general news sector is suffering from a decline in attention on proprietary sites, offset however by a strong push from third-party platforms: across the entire category, social media's ability to generate incremental audiences jumped from 51% in March to 62% in April.  

In this scenario, Sky TG24 Sites' twelve-month structural growth stands out: compared to April 2025, it recorded a 42% increase in unique visitors, driven by desktop and mobile (+58%) and social (+50%), with total minute volume up 52,5%. This success is explained by the leap in overall reach, which increased from 38,5% in one year to 54,6% in April 2026, the highest growth recorded in a month among all the brands monitored by Comscore. 

Despite the seasonal decline in desktop usage for text browsing, an analysis of those who access desktops exclusively for video shows that the computer is transforming into a high-attention, informational "second screen." A case in point is Sky TG24 Sites, which attracts a qualified audience of over 1,3 million unique monthly visitors, offering a consistent video inventory that is untouched by the fast-scrolling nature of mobile devices. 

In economic and service news, Il Sole 24 Ore stands out with 11,2 million unique visitors (+1%). Finally, April rewarded brands capable of capturing specific passions. In the science sector, Focus's jump was notable, growing 21,3% to 7 million unique visitors, driven by high social media interactivity (5,9 million).  

In the Lifestyle category, Grazia stands out as a statistical anomaly, posting a 448% increase (1,87 million unique visitors), thanks to the publisher's optimization and expansion of its tagging perimeters. Vanity Fair holds steady, rising 2% to over 11,1 million unique visitors. 

(Adnkronos)