Online video is now driving almost all growth in the global media and entertainment business, as advertising-supported models and mobile-first formats reshape how audiences discover and pay for content. Presenting Tuesday at Content Americas, Maria Rua Aguete of Omdia will outline how that shift is accelerating, and why microdramas have emerged as one of the fastest-scaling formats in online video.
Global media and entertainment revenues reached $1.1 trillion in 2025, up from $1.03 trillion in 2024, representing $70 billion in annual growth, according to Omdia. Of that increase, $64 billion came from online video, with $42 billion driven by advertising. Omdia forecasts the market will expand further in 2026, reaching $1.2 trillion.
“Growth is no longer coming from traditional television,” Rua Aguete told Variety. “Both pay TV and linear TV advertising are in decline, and while streaming subscriptions are still growing, expansion is becoming increasingly difficult in highly mature markets such as the U.S. where SVOD penetration already stands at around 85%. Advertising-supported tiers have therefore become a key growth lever, helping streaming services like Netflix expand in markets such as Latin America.”
Latin America Continues to Outpace the U.S.
Regional growth remains uneven. In 2025, Latin American media revenues rose 9.1% to $58 billion, compared with 3.4% growth in the U.S., which reached $424 billion. Online video is already the largest single segment in Latin America at $29 billion, ahead of traditional TV at $18 billion.
The monetization gap is wide. Average monthly Pay TV Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) stands at $106.1 in the U.S. versus $17.8 in Latin America, while SVOD ARPU reaches $12.8 in the U.S. compared with $5.6 in Latin America, revealing both the region’s lower purchasing power and its longer growth runway.
“Latin America still has meaningful headroom,” Rua Aguete said. “Streaming penetration is much lower than in the U.S., and hybrid and bundled models are helping unlock new audiences.”
Omdia expects Latin American revenues to climb 10.7% in 2026 to $65 billion, with online video expanding to $34 billion, while U.S. growth, though improving, remains structurally slower.
Netflix Leads as Hybrid Models Normalize
Across Latin America, Netflix holds as the dominant streaming service, accounting for around 50% of streaming revenues in the region, a position reinforced by its ad-supported plan and similar hybrid offerings now being adopted by competitors.
“Ad-supported plans have expanded the addressable market,” Rua Aguete said. “They’ve become a critical lever for growth in price-sensitive regions.”
Social Platforms Now Drive Discovery
Across devices, YouTube is the most-used video service globally, according to Omdia’s November 2025 data. In Brazil, YouTube and Instagram Reels together reach 97% of adults online aged 18–64, making social platforms the primary entry point for video consumption.
Usage patterns shift when viewing is measured solely on connected TV sets, where subscription services and FAST platforms remain highly competitive.
“Discovery has moved upstream,” Rua Aguete explained. “There is simply too much content available, fragmented across multiple paid and free services. People increasingly find content on social and mobile first, even if they finish watching it elsewhere. This is critical for formats like microdramas, where marketing spend can be ten times higher than production costs.”
FAST Grows but Microdramas Pull Ahead
FAST continues to expand, with global revenues reaching $5.8 billion in 2025 and projected to approach $11 billion by 2030. The U.S., Mexico and Brazil are the largest FAST markets by usage, while Brazil ranks as the second-largest FAST revenue market globally, behind the U.S.
“FAST remains important and still key in countries like the U.S., Brazil and Australia,” Rua Aguete said. “But microdramas are scaling more quickly because they’re built for mobile from the start.”
Microdramas and the Mobile Attention Economy
The short-form scripted series, typically one to two minutes per episode, designed for vertical, mobile-first consumption hit global revenues reached $11 billion in 2025, and Omdia expects the category to grow to $14 billion by the end of 2026, with $3 billion coming from markets outside China.
The core audience remains women aged 25–50, though newer titles are increasingly designed to attract male viewers as well. Discovery is driven primarily by YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
In Q4, microdrama users now spent more time per day watching microdramas on mobile apps in certain territories than they do on Netflix, Disney+, or Amazon Prime Video, according to new analysis from Omdia using Sensor Tower data.
Usage in Brazil remains lower but is rising rapidly.
“It’s closer to gaming than television,” Rua Aguete said. “Low production costs, very high marketing spend and monetization through coins, microtransactions and also weekly and monthly subscriptions. The advertising experience is often so horrible that people pay to watch content they’re addicted to.”
Advertising, Vertical Video and Partnerships
Rua Aguete argues that advertising is now the connective tissue linking streaming, FAST, social video and microdramas. Around 30% of global SVOD subscriptions now come via telco and non-telco bundling, including partnerships with banks and other consumer platforms. In Brazil, creator-led channels such as CazéTV have leveraged premium sports rights to overtake traditional broadcasters on YouTube, highlighting how distribution power is shifting.
“There is more money in the system,” Rua Aguete said. “But it’s flowing through new routes, advertising, vertical video and mobile-first formats.” She added that the implications are already visible in platform strategy. “The fact that microdrama users spend more minutes per day watching short-form dramas on their mobile phones than Amazon, Netflix or Disney users do on mobile to watch their content, helps explain why all major platforms are now investing in vertical content,” Rua Aguete said. “The strategic goal is clear: to increase time spent per user on mobile, where engagement is proving to be deeper and more habitual.”Â
