Time spent with selected media in Latin America H1 2023, by medium

In the first half of 2023, consumers in Latin America spent, on average, five hours per day on mobile media activities. The daily time spent with broadcast TV amounted to two hours and 23 minutes.

Mobile internet usage in Latin America and the Caribbean

Since the mobile media command the largest amount of leisure time among people in Latin America, then how popular is access to mobile internet in the region? More than 80 percent of population in Uruguay, Chile, Costa Rica, and Argentina was reached by mobile internet in 2022. In Brazil and Mexico, the penetration rate of mobile internet stood at 77.8 and 74.9 percent, respectively. However, when it comes to number of users of mobile internet, that same year Brazil ranked first, with more than 167 million users, with Mexico taking the second spot, with over 98 million users.

Printed press access dying out in LATAM?

While TV and radio exhibit a relatively strong usage in the region, print media are not as popular. According to the study, a Latin American consumer spent less than 40 minutes per day consuming print media such as books, magazines, and newspapers. In fact, it was forecast that by 2024, print media circulation will decrease by 2.7 percent year-on-year. What is more, as of early 2021, less than 20 percent of internet users in Latin America's six largest economies paid for digital news, showing that free news access is key in the region.