FAQs About Participating in AAM’s Cross-Channel Audience Report

AAM is introducing a new dataset to provide greater transparency into a publisher’s authenticated audience across channels on the Cross-Channel Audience Report. These FAQs explain the data and how publishers can participate.

What is the Cross-Channel Audience Report?

The Cross-Channel Audience Report provides a unique, unduplicated audience metric alongside gross audience counts by channel. It is designed to help publishers showcase authenticated audience engagement across their portfolio. AAM is launching this report with publishers in the first half of 2026.

Examples of the Cross-Channel Audience Report

What is the unique audience metric?

The unique audience metric represents the unduplicated count of paid subscribers and authenticated users across a publisher’s channels. Individuals are counted once in the total even if they engage through multiple channels.

Why is AAM introducing this new dataset?

As the market shifts toward authenticated audiences, publishers and buyers have said they need a clearer, more transparent way to understand how a total audience engages across channels. This dataset aligns AAM reporting with how publishers sell and how buyers evaluate audiences today.

What channels can be included in the report? What qualifies for each channel?

Publishers may report gross audience counts by channel, including:

Websites and apps (desktop, mobile web, mobile app): Paid subscriptions and verified registered users who consume the content via websites, mobile web or mobile apps.
Digital editions (e-magazine or e-newspaper): Paid subscriptions and verified registered users who consume the content via the digital edition (e-magazine or e-newspaper). The digital edition has the same editorial content and run of press advertising.
Print: Paid subscriptions, single copy sales and verified subscribers of the print publication.
Digital access platforms: Paid subscriptions and verified registered users who consume content via third-party digital content platforms such as Apple News+, Readly, or other similar platforms. Only subscribers who have accessed the media owner’s content qualify.
Newsletters: Paid subscriptions and verified registered subscribers of email newsletters.
Events: Paid attendees and verified registered attendees to an in-person, online or hybrid event.
Webinars: Paid attendees and verified registered attendees to a webinar.

All eligible channels contribute to the unique audience total.

Could you provide an example of how subscription offers could be counted?

Individuals are in the gross count for each channel category, and the unique audience figure is net. Only one unique subscriber is counted per subscription.

For a paid bundled subscription that includes access to the web, e-edition and print:

Web (desktop, mobile, app) could be claimed regardless of access
Digital edition (e-edition) is counted for each issue
Print is counted for each issue

For a paid subscription that includes e-edition and print (no access to web):

Digital edition is counted for each issue
Print is counted for each issue

Is this replacing my current AAM publisher’s statement?

This is an optional reporting format being launched with periodical publishers’ December 2025 data and news media publishers’ March 2026 data. Publishers are still filing on the current format, and the feedback from this optional reporting will inform how publisher’s statements and reporting schedules may change in the future.

How will buyers use the unique audience metric?

Buyers have shared that this data would help them evaluate a media company’s total authenticated audience while still offering engagement by channel.

How do I learn more or participate?

Reach out to your AAM account representative or contact us to learn more about participating.