OTT, FTA, pay-TV to be considered convergent for content in Mexico
Details
Juan Fernandez Gonzalez
| 27 January 2017

With possible TV ownership monopoly positions becoming an issue in the country, Mexico’s over-the-top (OTT), pay-TV and free-to-air (FTA) platforms are conforming to a single, convergent content market, an analysis note points out.

According to Ernesto Piedras, from the Competitive Intelligence Unit (CIU), Mexico’s regulator will now have to determine the concentration of each market and consider how a particular content package could suit the different kind of platforms. The authority may have to consider OTT, FTA and pay-TV as one market instead of three different ones.

“Pay-TV, free-to-air and OTT are configuring a convergent market of audiovisual content which is completely replaceable once the necessary quality and access technology is secured,” the note pointed out.

According to Piedras, the three markets will gradually level off as OTT penetration climbs and grow at a more rapid pace than the existing pay-TV market. According to the CIU’s latest figures, there are 6.7 million OTT subscribers in Mexico (up by 39.6% over the course of 2016) and almost 20 million pay-TV households.

“It has been said that there are differences of consumption habits among different content platforms and regarding spending power and broadband availability,” the research note added. “Our figures show there is an isignificant difference among ages and groups once the basic conditions are met (devices and connectivity).”

The analysis concludes with a call for more official, big-picture research, warning that not acknowledging the growing competition between FTA TV, pay-TV and OTT platforms will result in a partial analysis that doesn’t consider technological evolution and consumers’ preferences.