New Report on Latin American Streaming Behaviors

Buenos Aires, Argentina, August 19, 2021--The annual Penthera Latin America Streaming Behavior Survey highlights changing attitudes and behaviors towards streaming and download technology across Latin America. The smartphone has revolutionized so many parts of Latin American life, including how they consume video content. In fact, Penthera’s 2021 survey revealed that 90% of Latin American viewers use their smartphones and tablets to watch, ahead of both Connected TV (70%) and PC (65%).

OTT video is gaining serious steam in Latin America, as more viewers across the region cut the cord and watch online streaming video for their entertainment needs. Penthera’s Latin American survey seeks to better understand the habits and frustrations of viewers towards video streaming, downloading, and advertising.

The growth of OTT continued in 2020, and the Coronavirus pandemic helped the shift to online video happen even faster in Latin America. “We believe that the pandemic merely accelerated trends around cord-cutting that we were already seeing,” says Natalia Borges, EVP, Marketing at VIX, a subsidiary of Univision. “In LatAm, our audience has grown 4x.”

“We now expect the number of subscription OTT video viewers in Latin America to grow by 27.5% this year to 117.2 million,” says Matteo Ceurvels, Research Director, Latin America & Spain at eMarketer | Insider Intelligence. “That’s a roughly 16-percentage-point increase from the 11.6% growth we previously anticipated in our September 2019 forecast. 2021 will also exhibit strong double-digit growth of 16.4% where we expect there to be 136.4 million viewers by year-end.”

Of course, OTT growth is a global trend, but there is a lot that differentiates LatAm from other markets. For video providers, the growing popularity in the region will mean increasing competition, and understanding viewer behavior is crucial to success. Perhaps most notably, mobile dominates as the most popular way to watch content in Latin America. In our survey across Mexico, Brasil, Colombia, and Argentina, 90% of viewers say they watch on mobile with 56% citing it as their preferred viewing device over CTVs and PCs.

It’s also important to understand the things that frustrate LatAm viewers. Experiential issues abound, and re-buffering is the most common frustration among viewers. At the same time, viewers in the region have little patience for streaming problems which can lead to high rates of stream abandonment. Our survey shows that 43% of viewers will wait out 2 buffers before they leave the stream, while 38% wait only 1 buffer before jumping ship.

Further, for viewers who watch ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) content, there are unique issues. In addition to viewing annoyances like repeated ads, 70% of our panelists across Latin America said they don’t feel represented in the ads they see on streaming services, for a number of different reasons. This is a huge problem for advertisers spending money to reach these audiences, and it highlights an opportunity to improve the experience for Latin American viewers.

As OTT video gets a foothold in the region, streaming services, including more local offerings to the big global players, are going to want their share of the growth. The streaming wars are on their way to Latin America, and it’s crucial for providers to understand what sets viewers in this region apart and to create an experience for them that will foster loyalty. Read our report to better understand where, why, and how consumers are watching OTT content, and gain valuable insight into how providers can solve user frustrations and gain an edge over the competition.

Download a free copy of the report to learn more about viewing behaviors in Latin America.