The impeachment crisis of President Yoon Suk-yeol and the disaster involving Jeju Air have led to a significant increase in new installations of news applications.
According to the mobile index by AIGIA Works on the 12th, new installations of news apps in December of last year reached 310,000, a 63.15% increase compared to the same month in 2023, which had 190,000. When looking specifically at comprehensive news apps that include individual media outlets' news services, 240,000 were newly downloaded in December of last year. This is double the 120,000 new installations of comprehensive news apps in December 2023.
Typically, the year-end season, characterized by numerous gatherings and a period for settlement of account, is classified as a sort of off-season due to low news supply and demand. However, since President Yoon declared martial law on December 3rd of last year, the impeachment crisis has continued, compounded by the disaster involving Jeju Air, resulting in a soaring demand for real-time news.
In fact, the installation size of news apps in December of last year ranks among the top figures. Since the mobile index began comprehensive new installation tracking in March 2021, there have only been three instances, including this one, where news app installations exceeded 300,000. The all-time high was in March 2022, during the last presidential election, when new installations reached 390,000. The installation of comprehensive news apps also exceeded 300,000, totaling 320,000.
In January 2022, just before the presidential election, there were also 320,000 new installations of news apps and 240,000 of comprehensive news apps, indicating a surge in news demand. In terms of new installation size, this ranks as the third highest ever. Following the Itaewon tragedy in November 2022, new installations of news apps were 270,000, while comprehensive news apps saw 200,000, neither reaching 300,000.
Meanwhile, the news app with the highest monthly active users (MAU) last month was Google News, with 319,169 users. For comprehensive news apps, Google News also ranked first, followed by Chosunilbo with 125,391 users, Local News with 113,130 users, Today News with 113,130 users, and Yonhap News with 75,422 users.
In terms of user growth, the rankings were as follows: Local News saw an increase of 22,576 users, Google News increased by 19,264 users, YTN by 17,675 users, MBC News by 15,945 users, Today News by 13,829 users, Hankyoreh by 9,889 users, and Yonhap News by 8,254 users.