A. Guttmann
Research Lead covering media
Pay TV in Latin America - statistics & facts
Since the late 2010s, pay TV has been experiencing a declining trend worldwide. It might seem that the segment could still find a plethora of expansion routes in Latin America - the subcontinent was among the regions with the lowest pay TV penetration rates in late 2022, only second to the Middle East and Africa. At that time, less than two out of five people in Latin America and the Caribbean accessed the service. However, Latin Amercia is on the same path as the rest of the world, with forecasts showing a decline in the number of pay TV subscribers in Latin America in the 2020s.
Telenovelas at the top in Mexico
Mexico is, by far, the largest pay TV market in Latin America, with about as many subscribers as Brazil and Colombia combined. Additionally, the North American country was forecast to have 20 million subscriptions by 2026. Yet Mexico saw its number of pay TV households decrease throughout the second half of the 2010s – arguably, as a result of the rise of streaming solutions such as Netflix and Disney+. Meanwhile, Mexican subscribers seem to turn to pay TV seeking a very specific type of entertainment. The most popular telenovela in Mexico, was in fact "Si Nos Dejan", broadcast for years on Las Estrellas, a channel run by Televisa. The media conglomerate has the majority share of the pay TV market in the country.Sports and nostalgia on TV in Brazil
In 2021, there were around 14 million pay TV subscribers in Brazil. The number was forecast to oscillate in the following five years close to the 2021 figure. Yet again, despite signs of potential growth which was indicated by a spike recorded in late 2021, the following year brought a decline in the pay TV penetration in Brazil. When it comes to content, here another Latin American media leviathan, Globo, is behind many of the most-viewed pay TV channels in Brazil. In 2022, the top two were SporTV, focused on soccer and other sports, and Viva, dedicated to rerunning classic Globo hit shows.
