A. Guttmann
Research Lead covering advertising and marketing
Consumer trust remains a challenge for the media industry in Colombia. A study showed that the trustworthiness of mass media in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) altogether has declined throughout the 21st century, with consecutive decreases noted in the 2010s. Another survey indicated that media trust in Colombia was even lower. Whereas the region recorded confidence levels of 48.3 and 39.4 percent in 2018/19 and 2021, respectively, the country's figures stood below LAC's in that same period. A third source measuring the share of Colombians in favor of the media demonstrated that the rating continuously dropped in 2022, from 43 percent in February to 35 percent in July. Yet this market – of one the largest economies in South America – is home to a robust mediascape and saw digital content consumption expanding after the pandemic.
Legacy media in Colombia
Of Colombia's top six pay TV providers by revenue in 2021, three were entirely run by foreign companies. Claro is part of the Mexico City-based conglomerate América Móvil, DirecTV belongs to Vrio Corp. (bought by Buenos Aires-based Werthein Group in 2021), and Movistar is owned by Telefónica. They ranked first, second, and fourth, respectively. Among the leading TV companies by revenue, Caracol Televisión continued to reign supreme while a new second place emerged in full force in 2021. Disney Colombia's annual results skyrocketed by over 2,400 percent that year, solidifying Mickey's empire's presence on the small screen. Within the print media business, Casa Editorial El Tiempo – publisher of one of the country's most traditional newspapers, El Tiempo – reported revenue higher than most of its competitors combined. That is probably due to the organization's operations in other fields, namely advertising.Video and music streaming
The rise of streaming became very clear, particularly after the coronavirus outbreak. In 2018, little more than one-fifth of Colombians accessed paid over-the-top (OTT) video services. Three years later, the share was close to 30 percent. Like in many markets worldwide, Netflix had the upper hand with a household penetration rate of around 17 percent. Amazon Prime Video, YouTube Premium, and Disney+ followed, each with rates varying between six and seven percent. Meanwhile, the average daily time internet users spent with music streaming in Colombia in the third quarter of 2021 grew by five percent compared to the same period in the previous year, amounting to one hour and 47 minutes.
