The World Cup is set to drive television sales across Latin America. According to Dataxis estimates, 38.9 million smart TVs will be sold in 2026, bringing the installed base to 193 million units—83.5% of which will be actively connected. Within this ecosystem, the Connected TV (CTV) advertising business is gaining significant momentum, with projected revenues of USD 450 million by 2026. The smart TV market is characterized by notable fragmentation. While South Korean giants Samsung and LG command 51% of the market, their dominance is being challenged by a "second tier" of Chinese manufacturers (TCL, Hisense, and TPV) that already hold a solid 21% share, alongside over 50 smaller brands. This manufacturing atomization leads to a fragmented Operating System (OS) landscape, which multiplies negotiation hurdles and technical difficulties for app expansion. Currently, Tizen (Samsung), Android, and webOS (LG) lead with 72.4% of the installed base, while the remainder is split among at least five other alternatives. The CTV ecosystem is growing not only due to hardware but also thanks to the strategic shift of streaming platforms toward ad-supported models. Since 2023, major OTT services have launched ad-tiers plans, which by 2025 already accounted for 11.7% of total subscriptions. These ad-tiers carry greater weight in Brazil and Mexico—the region's two largest advertising markets—where they account for 55% of smart TVs. In these countries, ad-supported plans represent 51.2% and 38.8% of total OTT accounts, respectively. In this landscape, manufacturers like Samsung, LG, and TCL are competing with their own content ecosystems, while giants like Mercado Libre—the region's third-largest online advertising platform—are vying for a share of the pie through Mercado Play. Although revenue generated in CTV environments remains modest compared to other formats, its progress is accelerating due to higher attention quality and strong ad completion rates. In 2025, 17.6% of AVOD revenue came from connected screens; by 2030, this segment is expected to capture 25% of the total market.
