Claro Brazil is the new Pay TV leader in Latin America

In 2024, Claro Brazil strategically enhanced its Claro tv+ platform, by integrating new streaming services. In August, Claro included Apple TV+ in all Claro tv+ plans at no additional cost. Subsequently, in December, Claro partnered with Crunchyroll, the leading anime streaming service, offering it as an add-on for R$14.99 per month to attract the growing anime fanbase in Brazil.These strategic partnerships position Claro tv+ as a comprehensive entertainment hub in the competitive Brazilian Pay TV market. Meanwhile, among major regional operators, Sky Mexico launched Sky+, its own OTT Pay TV service, in October 2023, accelerating the company’s entry into the streaming market. Later in 2024, Televisa acquired the remaining shares of Sky Mexico and announced a restructuring of its TV businesses. With consumers shifting away from cable and satellite, is Sky Mexico’s transition to OTT arriving too late? Can traditional Pay TV operators accelerate their shift to OTT and hybrid models swiftly enough to stabilize market share in Latin America? How will group reorganizations and shifting competitive dynamics reshape the Pay TV landscape in the region? Claro Brazil surpasses Sky Mexico as the number one Pay TV operator in Latin America Claro Brazil reclaimed its position as the leading Pay TV operator in Latin America, surpassing Sky Mexico. Despite a significant decline from 7.8m subscribers in Q4 2019 to 5.2 million in Q3 2024, it has stabilized its subscriber base since Q4 2023. More recently, its total subscriber count stabilized and began growing again in Q3 2024. Meanwhile, Sky Mexico experienced the steepest drop, losing over 2.5m subscribers from 7.3m in Q4 2019 to 4.8m in Q3 2024. The delayed launch of its Sky+ OTT service in late 2023 highlights the challenges faced by Sky in adapting to the OTT-driven market and retaining customers. Totalplay stands out as the fastest-growing operator over recent years, increasing its subscriber base from 1.1m in Q4 2019 to 2.5m in Q3 2024. This growth reflects Totalplay's strong triple-play offering (internet, TV, and telephony) and expansion in fiber deployments. Totalplay has distinguished itself through its innovative Totalplay TV service, integrating advanced technologies (WiFi 6, 4K UHD resolution) and competitive partnerships with Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, and Apple TV+, the latter being bundled in Totalplay's 3P service at no additional cost. In November 2024, Totalplay received an upgrade from Moody’s Ratings, recognizing its strong financial performance and improved liquidity position. The company is poised to be a significant competitor to Sky-Izzi and Megacable, and a key player on a regional scale in the coming years. Among the major regional Pay TV operators, Sky Brasil, Telecom Argentina, and Claro Colombia have followed different trends but all converged at around 3.5m subscribers in Q3 2024. Notably, Sky Brazil...