Netflix, Claro Video lead Mexico's SVOD market

US-based video on demand platform Netflix is the very clear leader of Mexico's subscription video on demand (SVOD) market with 80% of subscribers, followed by América Móvil's Claro Video and Grupo Televisa's Blim, according to a report by local telecoms consultancy The CIU.

Netflix, the report said, had 8.3mn clients in the country as of 3Q18, helped by its "relentless rate of launch of new, competitive and attractive, and even local, content." The figure is equivalent to all of Mexico's subscribers to cable pay-TV as of Q2, according to official data.

Claro Video, which offers free subscriptions to clients of América Móvil's fixed-line and mobile business, is in second spot with 14.6% of this growing market, which The CIU says is a lower percentage than in previous measurements. "With the high client bases of the Telmex/Telcel conglomerate in the telecoms market, this platform has a marked potential to generate subscriptions... but it has lost ground by devoting little effort to the creation and distribution of original content," the report states.

Telmex, América Móvil's had 58.9% of the fixed line unit in Mexico as of 2Q18, (12mn lines) while its local mobile unit Telcel controlled 64% of the mobile market with 74mn lines.

Blim, a part of Televisa, the world's largest Spanish-language content producer, was in third spot at 2.7% of the SVOD market. The service is known for carrying Televisa's popular and extensive portfolio of soap operas (telenovelas).

"This is a market which shows growing and dynamic competition between platforms, with the entry and support of the infrastructure and billing of telecommunications operators," the report added.