What Has Reach Actually Said About Active Engaged Time?
The only on-the-record statement we found is a staff memo from chief content officer David Higgerson, as reported by Press Gazette on September 16, 2026. In it, Higgerson said “‘active engaged time’ will become our north star metric, over and above page views”, by the end of the year (Press Gazette). Press Gazette calls this a major change for a publisher that “has for a long time largely prioritised page views”.
That makes the metric a stated plan with a year-end target. As of October 12, 2026, it is not a completed change, and the table below separates what the reporting confirms from what it leaves open.
| Question | What the sources say | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Will active engaged time outrank page views? | Higgerson says it will, by the end of the year. | Press Gazette, September 16, 2026 |
| Has the change happened? | The memo gives a year-end target, so the change is pending. | Same |
| Are page views being retired? | The memo ranks active engaged time “over and above” page views. Nothing we read says page views will stop being measured or reported. | Same |
| How is active engaged time defined? | The Press Gazette report does not define it, and Reach’s half-year report contains no engaged-time metric. | None found |
| Does it change what Reach reports to outside parties? | The memo frames it as a newsroom priority. We found nothing on external or commercial reporting. | None found |
| What are the job numbers? | About 220 editorial jobs cut and 60 created, a net loss of around 160. | Press Gazette job cuts tracker |
Is Reach Dropping Page Views?
The reporting we read describes a change in rank. Page views stay in the picture, but a time-based measure is meant to sit above them. Press Gazette adds that the plan follows chief executive Piers North’s statement in July that Reach’s “future will be less about volume and more about original content, distinctive brands and securing better returns” (Press Gazette).
That affects how a buyer reads any figure supplied by a Reach title. A page-view count measures how often a page was loaded. A time-based measure asks how long people spent with it. Both can be reported for the same article, and they can point in different directions: a short, widely clicked story can score well on one and poorly on the other.
Why Is Reach Making the Change?
Higgerson pointed to falling referrals from Google, following “algorithm changes to the Google Discover mobile feed” and “the arrival of AI Overviews”, according to Press Gazette. Reach’s own half-year report, published July 22, 2026, shows the scale. It says “Google referral volumes reduced by 55% year-on-year”, that “on-platform page views declined 40% year-on-year”, and that “On-platform page views stabilised across Q2” (Reach plc half-year report).
% decline year on year
Source: Reach plc, “Half-year Report” (six months ended June 30, 2026, published July 22, 2026). Read October 12, 2026.
Traffic rows and revenue rows share one unit (% decline year on year) but measure different things. Press Gazette's July 22 report rounds these to 16% (indirect), 11% (digital) and 9% (revenue) and describes the 40% as a decline in website audience; the chart uses Reach's own figures and wording.
The chart shows traffic measures falling much faster than revenue, which is the context in which Reach is ranking another measure above page views.
Reach has described its audience in other terms as well. The same report refers to “35m adults engaging with our content every month”. That figure counts people, so it is a third kind of number alongside page views and time spent.
Press Gazette also reports that Reach has “more than 50,000 paying subscribers across 22 titles”, and that the new roles are “needed to drive digital revenue growth, particularly in subscriptions and in longer-form video.” A subscription business has more reason to value time spent than clicks, which is a plausible reading of the shift. It is our inference, not a Reach statement.
What Does “Active Engaged Time” Measure?
We could not confirm that from Reach. None of the reports we read gives a definition, and we therefore do not state one. Questions a buyer should put to the publisher in writing include:
- Is the time counted per article, per visit or per user?
- What counts as active: scrolling, tapping, playing a video, or any open tab?
- Does it include time on the app, on video and on off-platform channels, or only on-site pages?
- Can it be reported for a single URL, and over what period?
The word “engaged” is used differently across the industry, which is why the definition matters. Google Analytics defines an engaged session by thresholds: “any sessions that lasted 10 seconds or longer, or had 1 or more key events or 2 or more page or screen views” (Google Analytics Help). The analytics vendor Parse.ly, in an older case study on Slate, describes engaged time as “how long visitors actively read, watch, or listen to a piece of content” (Parse.ly). Those are other organizations’ definitions, quoted only to show that the term varies. Neither is Reach’s.
Which Reach Titles Are Affected, and What Happens to Coverage in Them?
Press Gazette reports that the plan includes closing three online-only brands: Kent Live, which launched in 2016, and Aberdeen Live and Galway Beo, both launched in 2021. Higgerson said the closures reflect Reach’s market position in those areas, adding: “This is not a reflection of the work done on these titles, or the commitment of the journalists on them.” Reach also owns national and regional titles including the Mirror, Express, Daily Star, Manchester Evening News and Liverpool Echo.
The reports we read do not say when the three sites will close or what will happen to their archives and URLs. A closure date, any redirects and the treatment of old articles are all unknown from our sources. Press Gazette’s job-cuts tracker, with entries through October 9, 2026, still carries only the September 16 Reach entry. Our guide to what happens to coverage when a publication shuts down covers the general patterns.
We found no published outcome of the proposals. Treat the numbers as a plan until Reach confirms them.
How Should a Placement in a Reach Title Be Reported and Judged?
A paid article, sponsored post or other paid placement in a Reach title is advertising. It is labeled and disclosed as such, and it should not be reported as editorial coverage. The metric change concerns Reach’s newsrooms, so it does not alter that distinction. Earned coverage is a different matter, and it is where the metric question applies most.
The table sets out what we recommend recording. These are house recommendations, not Reach rules.
| Item | What to record | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Identity of the piece | URL, headline, byline, brand, publication date, and whether it is editorial or labeled sponsored | Keeps earned and paid work separate in any report |
| Proof of publication | A dated screenshot or saved copy, taken on the day it runs | Brands are closing, and the sources do not say what happens to their archives |
| Page views | The figure if the publisher supplies it, with the date range and source | Still the best-known unit, and may stay in use |
| Active engaged time | The figure only with Reach’s written definition and the period | No public definition is available to us |
| Comparisons | Compare like with like: same metric, same brand, same period | A page-view figure and an engaged-time figure cannot be compared |
| Outcomes | Record business results separately, from the client’s own data | Coverage metrics describe attention, not sales or reputation |
For a fuller approach to judging results, see how to measure whether a placement worked.
What This Means for Anyone Buying a Placement
First, do not treat a metric supplied by one publisher as an industry standard. A circulation figure from an independent audit body carries a defined audit; a number a publisher chooses as its internal north star does not, by itself. Our guide to audited circulation explains what a third-party audit checks.
Second, expect reporting conventions to shift during the transition. Until the year-end target passes, a Reach title may quote either measure. Reports that mix the two across months will mislead, so label the metric in every row.
Third, ask before relying on archives. If a placement is in Kent Live, Aberdeen Live or Galway Beo, assume its long-term availability is uncertain until Reach says otherwise; we cover who controls that in can a placement be removed.
Fourth, keep the claim modest. No placement guarantees coverage, rankings, listener numbers or citations in AI answers. A rise in engaged time on a story says something about reader attention, but it does not show that the story changed anyone’s purchase or opinion.
Methodology and Limitations
Four limits apply. First, the account of the plan rests on one trade report of an internal memo, Press Gazette’s of September 16, 2026, and its job-cuts tracker; we did not see the memo itself. Second, we did not find a Reach definition of active engaged time, so the guide describes what is undefined instead of supplying one. Third, the plan is a proposal, and we found no published final numbers or closure dates. Fourth, Press Gazette describes the 40% fall in terms of website audience, while Reach’s half-year report speaks of on-platform page views; we use Reach’s wording and figures. Anything labeled a recommendation is ours.
Conclusion
Reach has said that active engaged time will outrank page views as its north star metric by the end of 2026. In the material we read, it has said nothing about how the metric is calculated or whether it will appear in anything a client sees. For a buyer, the sound approach is to record the metric’s name and definition next to every number, keep paid and earned work apart, and preserve proof of publication. The uncomfortable part is that page views, the number buyers have long asked a Reach title for, are being ranked second by the publisher, and the measure ranked first has no public definition we could find.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Reach replacing page views with active engaged time?
Reach says active engaged time will become its north star metric “over and above page views” by the end of 2026, according to Press Gazette. That ranks page views lower, and we found no statement that they will stop being measured.
What is “active engaged time” at Reach?
We could not find a Reach definition. The Press Gazette report quotes the term without defining it, so ask Reach for a written definition before using any figure labeled with it.
Has Reach confirmed the job cuts?
Press Gazette reported on September 16, 2026 that Reach is planning to cut about 220 editorial jobs and create 60, a net loss of around 160. The reports we read describe these as proposals, and we found no published final figures.
Which Reach websites are closing?
Press Gazette reports that the plan includes closing Kent Live, Aberdeen Live and Galway Beo. The reports we read do not give closure dates or say what happens to the archives.
How much has Reach's traffic fallen?
Reach's half-year report for the six months to June 30, 2026 says on-platform page views declined 40% year on year and Google referral volumes fell 55%, with page views stabilizing across the second quarter.
How should I report a placement in a Reach title now?
Record the URL, date, brand and whether the piece is editorial or labeled sponsored, and keep a dated copy. Report page views or engaged time only with the publisher's definition and period. This is our recommendation, not a Reach rule.
Sources
This guide is built from Press Gazette's September 16, 2026 report on Reach's plan, its rolling job-cuts tracker (entries through October 9, 2026), Reach's half-year report for the six months to June 30, 2026, and Press Gazette's July 22, 2026 report on those results. We used Google's and Parse.ly's pages only to show that “engaged” is defined differently across the industry. All sources were read in full on October 12, 2026, and we found nothing newer that changes the Reach account. The reporting checklist and the buyer advice are house recommendations, not Reach or platform rules. We did not find or test a Reach definition of active engaged time, and we did not test how Reach reports metrics to clients.
- trade press Press Gazette, Reach to cut editorial team by further 160 jobs as key metric becomes 'active engaged time'. Supports the job numbers, the Higgerson quotes, the brand closures and launch years, the Google referral explanation, the new roles and the subscriber figure. Read October 12, 2026.
- trade press Press Gazette, Journalism job cuts in 2026 tracked. Supports the Reach entry and the absence of later Reach updates. Read October 12, 2026.
- official Reach plc, “Half-year Report,” as published on Investegate (https://www.investegate.co.uk/announcement/rns/reach--rch/reach-plc-half-year-report/9680684). Supports the 55% Google referral, 40% page-view, 16.2% indirect revenue, 11.4% digital revenue and 9.0% group revenue declines, the Q2 stabilization and the 35m adults figure. Read October 12, 2026.
- trade press Press Gazette, Reach moves away from 'volume' as traffic, revenue and share price plunge. Supports Piers North's July statement and Press Gazette's rounded figures. Read October 12, 2026.
- platform documentation Google, “Engagement overview report,” Analytics Help (https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/13391283?hl=en). Supports Google Analytics' definition of an engaged session. Read October 12, 2026.
- vendor Parse.ly, Why Slate Picked Engaged Time as Their North Star Metric. Supports one vendor description of engaged time; an older page (originally 2017), used only to show the term varies. Read October 12, 2026.