Free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) services are spurring faster adoption of connected TV (CTV) platforms in parts of Latin America compared to the United States, according to a new report published this week.
The findings were detailed in Amagi’s “Quarterly Global FAST Report,” which surveys the CTV and FAST landscapes across the industry and around the world.
According to the report, the CTV industry saw a 94 percent growth in Brazil between the first quarter (Q1) of 2022 and Q1 2023. In Mexico, CTV platforms saw a 93 percent year-over-year growth during the same time frame, while the United States saw nearly 81 percent growth.
Amagi concludes that the reason behind the faster rate of adoption in Brazil and Mexico is linked to a maturation of the FAST market there: TV fans in Latin America have dozens of FAST platforms serving up hundreds of linear content streams and tens of thousands of free, ad-supported movies and TV shows.
“According to feedback from 96 percent of ad-supported streaming viewers [in Latin America], streaming TV offers superior entertainment options and programming compared to traditional cable TV,” the Amagi report said.
According to Amagi, Brazil saw the most new FAST content channel launches with 54 percent on a year-over-year basis, followed by Mexico and Colombia at 43 percent each and Argentina at 42 percent.
Affordability is also a factor at play. While premium, subscription-based services are popular in the United States, a study by ad platform Magnite showed more than two-thirds of pay television customers in Latin America were willing to switch to ad-supported streaming services if the end result was cost savings.
Viewers in Latin America have a number of free, ad-supported streaming options to watch, including Televisa-Univision’s Vix, local variants of Paramount Global’s Pluto TV and Fox Corporation’s Tubi.
The full report from Amagi is available to download by clicking or tapping here.
