Scripted Distribution Trends: Mexico

What types of services are buying shows?

Globally scripted content is being distributed across Free, Pay and SVOD, with the latter taking a larger share of first window sales year on year.

Pay TV holds the largest share for now.

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What types of services are buying shows in Mexico?

Mexico is the only Show Tracker market where there are no sales to Free TV. These channels are not buying any US content – instead airing local favourites like Telenovelas. The market for US shows in Mexico, once dominated by Pay TV is now being challenged by a growing global SVOD presence.

In Mexico, between the 16/17 and 17/18 season, the Global SVOD share of sales has increased from 26% to 37%. Although Mexico remains one of the most resistant Show Tracker markets to this challenge, with its Pay TV share higher than the global average. Pay TV held a 61% share in Mexico for the 17/18 season, almost 20 points higher than the global Pay share.

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Who are the key buyers in Mexico?

The Pan-Regional Pay TV channels are the biggest providers of US scripted content in Mexico alongside Netflix and Amazon.

Fox leads in volume of content by a considerable margin compared to its competitors, airing its buys as well as content from 20^th Century Fox Distribution on its multiple channels in the region including FOX, FX, FOX Premium and FOX Life.

The broadcaster response to the SVOD threat

Across markets broadcasters are increasingly acquiring rights that are traditionally synonymous with SVOD providers. There has been a notable rise in the number of broadcast shows with in-season stacking, where episodes are added to catch-up services indefinitely after broadcast. In some markets such as Spain and in the US the practice has become ubiquitous.

In Mexico there has been a 19% increase in the number of Pay Broadcasters providing stacking between the 17/18 and 18/19 season. Most of this growth comes from the largest US scripted content providers like Fox and HBO who frequently employ stacking with their content, while smaller broadcasters are less likely to offer extensive catch-up.