LATAM STREAMING CONSUMPTION REPORT
Consumer streaming trends and insights across Latin America
Streaming in Latin America: A filter for how the region engages with the world
Streaming is a filter for Latin American consumers to engage with the world. A streaming subscription is no longer a luxury; it has become as essential to modern life and inseparable
from everyday life.
The streaming landscape in the region keeps evolving. Content migrates across platforms as streaming rights are bought and sold, and a casual endorsement from an influencer can turn a new series into an overnight hit. Meanwhile, price hikes, password-sharing crackdowns, and rising piracy are reshaping how consumers behave.
The Streaming Consumption in Latin America 2024 Report, Sherlock Communications’ third annual report on the subject, analyses original research on streaming habits and trends among 3,000+ consumers across Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru — six markets that together represent close to half a billion people.
Download our exclusive report for free
Netflix keeps the crown, but the region is getting harder to please
Streaming use in Latin America is close to universal, with 98% of respondents saying they use a streaming service, and 58% naming series and movies as the content they consume most. Netflix remains firmly in the lead, with 82% of respondents using the platform and 59% selecting it should they choose only one platform to subscribe. However, that lead has been narrowing since 2021, when 68% named Netflix their number one choice.
Attention spans are also changing: while in 2021, 46% of Latin Americans said they gave streaming content their undivided attention, today, that figure has fallen to just 24%. Three in four Latin Americans now multitask while streaming – cooking, tidying the house, scrolling on their phones, and even working.
Not an easily captivated audience: Latin Americans' demands and concerns
Latin American consumers have expressed their views on streaming services in the region, highlighting two main concerns: cost and the demand for better content. Cost is the region’s biggest streaming headache, with 62% of consumers saying it has become too expensive to keep more than one subscription. As a result, 46% of Latin American consumers share passwords with friends or family to cut costs, and a quarter have cancelled a service in the past year because of a price increase.
The demand for better content represents another challenge, with representation emerging as a key concern. This increasingly distracted audience calls out that the content offered by streaming platforms does not meet their expectations, particularly regarding stereotypes and a lack of diversity. Some 68% of Latin Americans want to see women in more meaningful on-screen roles, and 67% want black, indigenous and other communities portrayed with more nuance and respect. Content about the region is also seen as unrepresentative, with 69% of Latin American consumers saying that TV and movies about the region lean too heavily on drugs, crime, violence and stereotypes.
Download the Streaming Consumption LATAM 2024 Report, and:
- Get exclusive insights from more than 3,000 consumers across Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.
- Discover what Latin American consumers really think of the content streaming platforms offer them — what annoys Argentinians, and what bores Brazilians?
- Learn the top reasons why so many Latin American consumers are cancelling their paid streaming subscriptions and the workarounds they’re using to cut costs.
- Track how streaming consumption habits across the region have shifted over the past few years.
