Sean Ryan, Associate Editor of The Sunday Times, discusses how the paper's tablet edition has managed to achieve record 'dwell times' among readers.

The Sunday Times investigation exposing the extraordinary extent of blood doping by elite athletes has dominated headlines around the globe. But it also helped prove that in a world full of distractions, big exclusive stories will not only attract readers, but help boost the amount of time they’re willing to spend with us.

The seven articles produced by The Sunday Times Insight team, based on the biggest leak of drug test data in sporting history, were read for an enormous 21 million seconds on the iPad alone. The scoop also topped the smartphone and website charts.

This isn’t an isolated trend. On July 26, the average read time for The Sunday Times iPad edition was 65 minutes and 5 seconds.

It was the title's second highest 'dwell time' to date – only the Sunday following the general election, when the paper was stuffed with political goodies, set a higher record of 67 minutes 26 seconds.

This rise in dwell time - it was under 58 minutes this time last year - reflects a big effort to hold readers’ attention for longer.

Why does it matter? Because a healthy dwell time not only means we're giving readers what they want; it also makes them more likely to stay with us.

Business Intelligence, our data analysing department, tells us that Sunday Times readers who visit five of our 11 sections are significantly less likely to 'churn', or cancel their subscription. So we direct them from one section to another with puffs, and end each section with a full-page ad that encourages them to move on to two more, for example from News to Sport and Style.

Video has been one of the keys to driving up dwell time. Views doubled last year to 2.4m, with the accent on action, emotion and humour. Sport accounts for 25% of hours spent, thanks to highlights videos watched for an average of four minutes.

We've also added some very well-read digital supplements to the tablet in recent months. Best Places to Live tops that chart, followed by The Best of Jeremy Clarkson.

More interactive features have also proved popular, including extra puzzles and quizzes, house price and stamp duty calculators and tests to tell you how long you might live and whether you're a narcissist.

Overall, tablet views are up 2% year on year and website visits are up more than 10%. On the smartphone, where we've created a 'Sunday Times lite' of around 75 pieces on the home page, we've seen a stonking increase of 34% in visitors, according to the latest data report.

Improvements in our smartphone and website offerings, and the imminent launch of our app in Ireland - all​ masterminded by Alan Hunter, the head of digital for The Times and The Sunday Times -​ are the most exciting digital prospects for the coming year and we hope will drive dwell time even higher.