Author
Anabelia Horbuz, Analyst Dataxis Latin America
Anabelia Horbuz is an Analyst from Dataxis NexTV, based in the offices in Buenos Aires. With more than eight year of experience in the Telecommunications and Pay-TV market, Horbuz worked as a journalist in various magazines in the sector and as Editor of the Daily Newsletter of NexTV Latam.
Table of Contents
1. Definition of TV Everywhere
2. TVE Models
2.1 TV Everywhere from Pay-TV Operators 2.1.1 VTR 2.1.2 DirecTV
2.2 TV Everywhere centered around the content provider 2.2.1 ESPN Play 2.2.2 Moviecity Play 2.2.3 Muu (Globosat) 2.2.4 Telecine Play 2.2.5 HBO Go 2.2.6 HotGo 2.2.7 Fox Play 2.2.8 Fox Sports Play 2.2.9 Premiere FC 2.2.10 Philos TV (Globosat) 2.2.11 Turner 2.2.12 A+E Networks Latin America
3. Conclusions
4. Distribution of TV Everywhere services
Table 1. Penetration of TVE services (%) over the total subscribers (millions) in Latin America. Seven countries. Q412.
Graph 1. Distribution (%) of TV Everywhere services over the total Of Pay-TV subscribers in Latin America. Seven countries. Q412.
Graph 2. Evolution in the distribution of TVE services in Latin America over the total of Pay-TV subscribers. Seven countries. Q212 Vs. Q412.
Structure and Methodology
The following report is titled “TV Everywhere in Latin America 2013” and was carried out on April of 2013. The study contains four chapters. The first offers a definition of the TV Everywhere (TV Everywhere) concept, while the second one analyzes the models of TVE in Latin America and outlines the profiles and the current offer in the region, from content providers as well as Pay-TV operators.
The information about the TVE offer in Latin America was obtained from website, as well as press information and information provided by companies to Dataxis.
In the third item some conclusions are mentioned about the service offer, while the fourth chapter analyzes the distribution of TVE services in the seven main countries of Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela) and their evolution compared to data from the Q212. The data expresses the subscriber potential that TVE platforms would cover based on agreements reached with Pay-TV operators in the region.
The figures of the total of Pay-TV subscribers of this Report corresponding to Q412 and they were obtained from public sources. When these figures were not available, they were estimated by Dataxis by means of its own methods.
In the same way, the figures about the distribution of TVE services were prepared for this report based on diverse public sources and own methods. In cases where prices were mentioned, they were expressed in the same currency chosen by the operator.
Executive summary
Dataxis identified 12 operative TV Everywhere Platforms in Latin America, from content providers as well as Pay-TV operators. In turn, there were two other companies –A+E Networks y Turner- that had announced the launch of their respective TVE systems.
ESPN was the pioneer in launching TV Everywhere services in the region. The channel finalized different agreements with operators for its platform ESPN Play, which allowed it to cover 23.5 million potential users in the seven main markets of the region (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela). That figure represented 48.4% of the total of Pay-TV subscribers registered in the seven main countries at the end of 2012.
Dataxis estimated that the service from ESPN grew by 9.8% in six months by moving from a subscriber potential of 21.4 million in the Q212 to 23.5 million in the Q412. In the Q212 that total represented 47.3% of the total of Pay-TV subscribers.
The second TVE with the best distribution was Fox Play (and Fox Sports Play), which in October of 2012 only had agreements with DirecTV Pan-American and Supercanal in Argentina, but six months later it had added agreements with other 10 Pay-TV operators.
In the Q412 the agreements generated by Fox Play with the operators allowed it to reach 22.5% of the total of Pay-TV subscribers in the seven main markets of Latin America, while in the Q212 that figure was 10%.
In third place was Muu from Globosat, services oriented to basic subscribers of the operators with which it had agreements, which allowed it to gain fast distribution, although only in Brazil since it wasn’t available in other countries of the region.
Muu had a potential of 5.99 million subscribers, which by the Q412 represented 12.3% of the total of Pay-TV users in the countries analyzes. According to the information from Q212 Muu reached 11.5% of the total of Pay-TV clients in the seven main markets.
There were options only for Premium channels such as Moviecity Play, Telecine Play and HotGo, among others. According to estimates from Dataxis, 6% of the Pay-TV subscribes subscribed by the Q412 in the countries analyzed had access to Moviecity Play, which in this way became the Premium platform with the greatest distribution in the region. By the Q212 Moviecity Play had access to 5.4% of the subscribers of those countries; the growth evident by the end of 2012 was due to the operator finalizing new agreement, especially in Mexico.
The TV Everywhere platforms grew to counteract the growing offer of legal OTTs, which started to shape up since 2012. TVE only allowed access to online content to Pay-TV subscribers, with authentication. In this way, the TVE systems adjusted to the value chain of the Pay-Tv industry and put themselves forwards as an added value project that sought to build loyalty with subscribers.
In general, the TVE services were available on multiple connected devices. When this wasn’t the case, the companies announced that they were preparing applications that would allow them to complete a multiscreen strategy.
1. Definition of TV Everywhere
The concept of TV Everywhere (TVE) referred to a process of authentication of the identity of the Pay-TV subscriber with the purpose of authorizing them to access certain “online” content, from different types of devices; which also can mean access from outside the home.
In this way, TVE only allowed access to online content to Pay-TV subscribers. The highest aspirations of TVE were to replicate the traditional Pay-TV offer through the Internet, therefore the main content in TVE were Pay-TV channels.
Thus, the TVE platforms adjusted to the value chain of the Pay-TV industry and put themselves forward as an added value that sought to build loyalty with the subscribers of that service, in the face of online content offers from OTTs.
2. TVE Models
When the world of legal OTT offers started in Latin America in 2012, Pay-TV operators and content providers started to launch TV Everywhere strategies to counteract a possible advance of those initiatives.
Although the offer was just emerging, two TVE models were identified:
TV Everywhere from the operator: The Pay-TV operators, pure or stemming from of telecommunications, reacted when faced with the advance of the OTTs through the launch an offer of video through the Internet. In the same way as the traditional legal OTTs, the Pay-TV operators offered a catalogue of protected content by copyright that could be accessed from the Internet (fixed connection and, possibly mobile). In Latin America, the access to this content was free of charge but only for those who had a Pay-TV subscription.
TV Everywhere from the content provider: Different content providers for Pay- TV offered part of their content on Demand, on their own Internet websites. The access for users was free of charge (although not necessarily in all cases),
but it was under the condition that one was subscribed to a Pay-TV operator with which the content provider had an agreement.
2.1 TV Everywhere from the Pay-TV operator
2.1.1 VTR
The main MSO of Chile was one of the pioneers in the region in having a TVE offer. The service is called Go VTR and it launched in November of 2010. The product was available, at no additional cost, for Pay-TV clients with an access key to the virtual branch of the operator, which allowed users to manage their products. The content management platform was provided by the company Admotion.
The initiative was presented as multi-platform, being accessible from any connected device, including mobile terminals. It must be kept in mind that VTR entered the mobile market, with their own network, during Q212.
VTR launched the platform Go VTR with a reduced programming offer: six live channels (NAT Geo, Nat Geo Wild, Utilísima, CNN Deportes, Vive Deportes and El Canal de las Estrellas) and another 3 “on demand” (MTV Revolution, Nick Turbo and ESPN Play).
On April of 2013 VTR had reduced the offer and had three live channels (CNN Chile, Vive Deportes and ESPN3). However, the offer of “on demand” channels has broadened to six options (Zona Latina, Glitz on demand, Barça TV, Vía X, ESPN Play and Fox Play). In turn, the “Premium” section included access to the services of TV Everywhere Moviecity Play and HotGo (this last one for adults).
The site of Go VTR also had the possibility of accessing movies from Chile, series, music specials, children’s content and sports material via streaming.
2.1.2 DirecTV
The sports channel from the DTH operator DirecTV –called DirecTV Sports- had a portal through which it broadcasted the games of the Spanish Soccer League live and through streaming; among other sports options. It was available for the operator’s subscribers in the Pan-American division, which covered Argentina, the Caribbean, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela and Uruguay.
On April of 2013, DirecTV informed that the live broadcasts of the games were on phase Beta. To access to platform, it was necessary to be registered on the interactive portal MiDirecTV, to which subscribers had access to manage their services.
DirecTV launched the platform on April of 2012 with the game between Barcelona and Real Madrid. In that opportunity, it started its broadcasts with the 3D technology. The TVE service of DirecTV broadcasted a live game per week of the Spanish League, of Real Madrid, or of Barcelona.
2.2 TV Everywhere centered on the content
2.2.1 ESPN Play
ESPN launched its platform to watch content online ESPN Play in 2010. The condition to enter was that the user was subscribed to an Internet provider. In 2011, it broadened the concept to Pay-TV operators by adding DirecTV Pan-American.
ESPN Play offered live events (individual or simultaneous) and a library of VOD titles. According to what the company confirmed to Dataxis, ESPN Play added around 10,000 hours of content per year. In 2012, ESPN Play had an average of just above 100,000 unique users per month in all Latin America, except Brazil, The company informed that, on average, each users consumed around 70 minutes per month (always excluding Brazil).
In the first three months of 2013 the companied experienced an outstanding growth in the quantity of unique users in comparison to the same period of 2012. In this way, in January of 2013 the unique user growth was of 100% in relation to January of 2012. In February it was of 113% in comparison to the same month in 2012 and in March 67%.
The platform was available for computers, smartphones and tables with iOS, including, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, (only iOS 4.0 or later); mobile phones and tablets with Android (Android 2.2 to 4.0) and soon it would reach connected TVs and OTT services.
ESPN Play had an agreement with DirecTV in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Venezuela and The Caribbean. In addition, it had partnered with Cablevisión, Supercanal, Colsecor, Telecentro and Telered in Argentina; VTR and Movistar in Chile; Une in Colombia; Tigo in Costa Rica; TV Cable in Ecuador; Cablemás, Megacable, Cablecom, Telecable and Axtel in Mexico; Cable Onda and Cable & Wireless in Panama; Movistar in Peru; Cablevisión, TCC, Montecable and Nuevo Siglo in Uruguay; Netuno
and Inter in Venezuela; Wind in the Dominican Republic and UTS, Lime and Flow in the Caribbean.
Meanwhile, in 2010 ESPN launched a platform in Brazil, with the name ESPN 360, only for subscribers of Speedy and Ajato, the broadband services of Telefónica and TVA (unified under the brand Vivo since 2012). In September of 2012 the sports channel launched again in Brazil, under the brand WatchESPN, and also Vivo (Telefónica) finalized with agreements with TV Alpaville and Sky (which included it in its OTT Sky Online Platform). However, many users of Sky complained through various forums that they could only access the VOD material but not live events, since their operator had not set that option up.
2.2.2 Moviecity Play
Moviecity Play was launched in 2011, initially in association with Cablevisión, the main MSO of Argentina, and then with different Pay-TV operators of Latin America; with the exception of Brazil. The platform was exclusive to subscribers of the channel package Moviecity on Pay-TV. In this way, the subscriber had to get a code from their operator. The access did not have an additional cost. Moviecity did not specify the quantity of titles available in the platform. According to information from the company, Moviecity Play offered “the best” of the more of 1,200 titles that the channels of the Group offered monthly.
The content available on Moviecity Play reached the platform between 24 and 48 hours after their broadcast through Pay-TV. Nevertheless, the company on occasion chose to first release the episodes of the series on the online platform, and then on TV. That’s how it occurred with the episodes of “Spartacus” throughout the seasons and with the first season of “Lynch –a 100% original Moviecity series. In addition, the company had announced that the new season of “Lynch, La Salvación no es Gratis” (Lynch, Salvation is not Free) will also follow this strategy and it will be released weekly first on Moviecity Play and then on TV.
Moviecity hosted and distributed content through Akamai. The speed recommended by the company for optimum use of the platform was of 3 Mbps. The system used the technology Adaptive Streaming, which adapted the streaming to the connection speed of the user to avoid degrading the quality image.
The company had finalized agreements with DirecTV (in Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela and Uruguay), with Cablevisión, Supercanal, Telecentro, Dibox (Red Intercable), Telered and Express (CableHogar) in Argentina; VTR and Movistar in Chile; Movistar and Une in Colombia, with TV Cable of Ecuador; Dish,
Megacable, Cablemás, Telecable, Cablecom, Axtel and, Ultravisión in Mexico; with Inter of Venezuela, Cable Onda of Panamá and with Cablevisión, Montecable, Nuevo Siglo and TCC in Uruguay.
Moviecity Play could be accessed through computers, LG connected TVs, Smartphones with Windows Phone and Luma devices from Nokia. The company also finalized agreements with another 3 Smart TV manufactures, which were not disclosed.
The group of six Premium channels of Moviecity Pack was composed of: Moviecity Premieres, Moviecity Family, Moviecity Hollywood, Moviecity Action, Moviecity Mundo and Moviecity Classics. In addition, the company had the basic channels Cinecanal and Film Zone. Moviecity was part of Fox International Channels, in association with Paramount Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox.
2.2.3 Muu
On August of 2011, Globosat, the main programmer of Brazil, property of the Globo Group, announced the launch of the platform Muu which would allows Pay-TV clients of affiliate operators access –at no additional cost- to content from the company from different types of devices: computers, tablets and Smartphones, with Android and iOS operating systems.
Muu had a catalogue with 150 programs from the channels GNT, Multishow, SporTV, Off, Gloob, Combate, Premiere, +Globosat, Viva, Philos, Bis, Universal Channel and Canal Brazil. Together, the company provided 2,000 hours of programming available.
On April of 2013 Muu had agreements with five operators: GVT, NET, NET Fortaleza, NET Angra and CTBC. In six months, from October of 2012 to April of 2013, it added agreements with two new operators (GVT and NET Angra).
Users could access the platform outside of Brazil, but only Globosat’s original productions could be played abroad.
Muu was not available on connected TVs and STBs. However, the company promised “novelties” in that regard. In that sense, it indicated that it would be available shortly through videogame consoles Xbox (Microsoft). The user could register up to eight devices to connect to Muu. The minimum connection speed recommended was of 1 Mbps.
The service turned a year being active on October of 2012 and by then it reached more than four million subscribers in the operators NET and CTBC, disclosed the programmer.
2.2.4 Telecine Play
The Premium channel package Rede Telecine –joint venture between Globosat and four Hollywood studios: 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures and MGM- launched its TV Everywhere service –called Telecine Play- on August 1 of 2011, at no additional cost to its subscribers. On April of 2013 the company had agreements with the operators Vivo, GVT, NET, NET Fortaleza, SKY, Claro and TV Alphaville. To access, the user had to be subscribed to the complete package of six channels.
For each user, it was possible to use Telecine Play on up to four devices. One could access the material through a computer, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Tablets and Smartphones with an Android system. At the moment, it wasn’t available on videogame consoles. On its website, Telecine Play clarified that it was working so that all subscribers could access the service from multiple platforms.
Telecine Play offered 1,500 titles of programming from the channels Premium, TC Pipoca, TC Action, TC Fun, TC Touch and TC Cult.
2.2.5 HBO Go
In September of 2012 HBO launched the TV Everywhere platform –HBO Go- in Brazil which was already in place in the United States since 2010. In Brazil, it initially finalized an agreement with the DTH SKY (DirecTV) and its launch with Net had been announced, although on April of 2013 it had yet to be finalized.
The platform was later extended to Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela through DirecTV Pan-American. In Argentina, the operator Cablevisión announced that it would shortly offer HBO Go to its subscribers. The service was offered at no cost to subscribers of the premium channel packages HBO/Max Digital.
HBO Go included around 1,000 titles, between original productions from HBO and acquisitions. One could access it through computers, and in Brazil applications for tables and smartphones with iOS and Android systems had been announced. The portal for Brazil could only be accessed from that country.
On March of 20013, Richard Plepler, CEO of HBO, indicated that although currently the business model was adequate, HBO Go could evolve and be packaged with broadband
services, in association with providers. In any case, he did not confirm whether that option will develop, neither if it would extend to Latin America..
2.2.6 Hot Go
Claxson, programmer and distributor of content, presented its TVE platform on May of 2012, during the course of the fair Expo Canitec 2012 in Mexico. The system gathered content from the adult channel portfolio of the company: PlayboyTV, Venus, Sextreme, Penthouse and Private. Therefore, those who want to access the platform must be Pay-TV subscribers of the full adult channel package of the company.
On April of 2013 the platform had a catalogue of around 130 hours of content per month. The company indicated that 38 hours were of Playboy content (programs and series) and another 90 hours of movies.
Claxson finalized agreements with Megacable, Cablecom and Dish in Mexico; Cablevisión, Dibox (Red Intercable), Telered and Telecentro in Argentina; VTR in Chile; Une in Colombia; Inter in Venezuela; TV Cable in Ecuador; Nuevo Siglo, Montecable and TCC in Uruguay and Cable Onda in Panama.
Hot Go was available through computers, tablets and smartphones with Android, iPad and iPhone.
Claxson considered that the possibility of choosing where and how to watch content was one of the main advantages of the system, because of it being adult content. In addition, it indicated that the platform contributed to increasing operators’ ARPU associated with the sale of the package.
2.2.7 Fox Play
The Fox Group presented their platform for TV Everywhere on September of 2012. The portal had material from the channels Fox, FX, Fox Sports, Fox Life, BabyTV, Utilisima, National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild, Cinecanal and Film Zone. These last two were basic channels for the Moviecity Group.
In addition, the platform had access links to the TVE systems Moviecity Play and Fox Sports Play. To access Fox Play the user must place their authentication code, provided by their Pay-TV operator. The service had no additional cost.
To access it is recommended to have a connection speed of 3 Mbps or greater to have the best quality possible. The service was available via browser from computers, tablets and smartphones.
The Fox group had finalized agreements with DirecTV Pan-American (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela and the Caribbean). In Argentina it also had agreement with Cablevisión and Supercanal; in Chile with VTR; in Colombia with Une; in Mexico with Telecable, Gigacable, Total Play, Axtel and Ultravisión; and in Uruguay with Cablevisión and Montecable.
In Fox Play 140 episodes were released per month from a library composed of 1,6000 complete episodes. On their website the company stated that in some case, the content was available on the online service 24 hours after its broadcast on Pay-TV. The exhibition windows depended on what was established in the broadcasting rights of particular content.
In the platform there were also short duration videos with previews or highlights of movies and/or series, which could be watched without the need of previously entering the access key.
2.2.8 Fox Sports Play
The service Fox Sports Play offered live events and On Demand content composed of programs of sports channels. The website of TV Everywhere additionally provided access to other platforms of the Group (Fox Play and Moviecity Play).
According to information from the company, there were 120 live broadcasts on Fox Sports Play per month and users could access 100 soccer games and races per month, in addition to original productions.
Fox Sports Play had agreements with the same operators as Fox Play, which is why both had the same distribution in the region. Although initially the company indicated that only subscribers to Moviecity package in Pay-TV had access to Fox Sports Play, on April of 2013 it confirmed that the platform was open for all of the subscribers of the operators that it had agreements with.
In the same way as Fox Play, Fox Sports Play was also available, via browser, from computers, tablets and smartphones.
2.2.9 Premiere FC
The sports Premium channel Premiere FC, which belonged to the portfolio of Globosat, launched the portal PremiereFC.con in July of 2012 with access –for their Pay-TV subscribers- to games of the local Soccer League.
One could access the site from computers and tablets and smartphones with the iOS system.
The service was available for subscribers of the channels in the operators SKY and GVT. However, the difference of this TVE service with respect to the other models in the region was that access to the online platform had an additional cost of R$ 10.90.
On April of 2013 the service promised live games from the Brazilian Championship of the series A and B, as well as local championships of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, among others.
2.2.10 Philos TV (Globosat)
Philos TV was a VOD documentary channel from Globosat with content focuses on the arts, music and culture. It was available in the VOD platform of the MSO NET –called NOW- for a monthly subscription of R$ 14.90. On April of 2013 Globosat announced that Philos would become part of the On Demand offer of the operators GVT and Oi TV.
However, subscribers of the channel had the option of watching the material through computers and notebooks. For this, it was necessary to install the Silverlight player. At the same time, it was recommended to have a minimum speed of 2 Mbps.
Globosat expected to soon launch an application for iOS and Android. The company indicated that at the moment it had launched a promotional application for iPad that allowed to know the titles available in the catalogue without the need of being a subscriber.
Furthermore, Globosat had already announced other projects similar to Philos TV. For example, in April of 2013 the company launched +Combate, the VOD options of the PPV channel Combate, which broadcasted mixed martial arts fights, among other options. The monthly subscription to Combate had a price of R$ 53.9. The access to VOD content had no additional cost to subscribers of the channel.
In the same way as Philos TV, +Combate was available in the “Now” platform and it would then extend to other operators. Subsequently, the option would open up to access through computers and mobile devices.
In addition, Globosat had in its portfolio the channel Receitas GNT, with the “best” gastronomy programs of the Pay-TV channel GNT, oriented towards the female population. NET promoted Receitas GNT on their website (inside of Now), but on April of 2013 it had yet to launch the option to access it from mobile devices. According to what GNT Receitas informed on their website, the channel’s complete catalogue would soon be available through applications for iPhone, iPad and Android.
2.2.11 Turner
The Turner Group offered a TV Everywhere platform in the United States, and on April of 2013 it had two TVE systems in Latin America (TNT Plus and Space Plus) working on test mode. The official launch would take place shortly.
On the website of TNT Plus only DirecTV was listed –to the date- as the only partner operator for TV Everywhere. The agreement with the DTH operator included the Pan- American region (except the Caribbean and Puerto Rico): Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Uruguay and Peru.
Furthermore, on the portal Space Plus DirecTV and Cablevisión de Argentina of appeared. In fact, on April of 2013 Cablevisión had already incorporated the site Space Plus to its online content offer.
TNT Plus offered material for TV Everywhere in three sections: TNT Películas (Movies), TNT Series y TNT Independiente (Independent). In this last case short films could be watched in the I.Sat channel, among other options.
The Space Plus offers was composed also of series and movies, these last ones in Spanish or with subtitles. The company did not specify the amount of hours of programming available in both platforms. It is expected that more details will be offered once both offers are officially launched.
2.2.12 A+E Networks Latin America
A+E Networks Latin America expected to launch in Q413 a TV Everywhere platform in the region, with material of its channels A&E, History and BIO. On April of 2013 there were no major decisions about the project yet.
According to information from the company, the Group’s three channel reached 44 million homes in Latin America. The channels were distributed by HBO Latin American Group. The TVE project of A+E Networks would be in the hands of HBO, which already had a platform with those characteristics in the region.
3. Conclusions
On April of 2013 the TV offer was emerging. Although each TVE service had its own portal, in general Pay-TV operators offered access links to these platforms on their websites, to promote these initiatives.
Cablevisión of Argentina, for example, had a section inside their website called “Online content”, where it put together the TVE systems with which the operator had agreements.
In addition, the association Red Intercable of Argentina, -which grouped together more than 230 cable operators of the interior of the country- offered on their portal the section “Dibox Play”, which put together TV Everywhere offers from content providers. On April of 2013 Hot Go and Moviecity Play were listed. Gigacable, Cablecom and Telecable in Mexico, among others, also opted to promote the TVE services on their websites.
Thus, the partnership between content providers and Pay-TV operators was the initial basis for the launch of TVE in the region. Nevertheless, there were other online content options in the market, which however did not correspond to the traditional TVE model.
In this sense, the Colombian Free-To-Air channel Caracol, which had an international signal which was broadcasted through Pay-TV in the rest of the region, launched the online platform “Caracol Play” with an extensive production and live events catalogue, for an annual subscription of Co$ 58,000. In addition, it offered the transaction option for a price between Co$ 7,900 and Co$ 34,800.
At the moment it was only available in Colombia and it was not a requirement to be subscribed to a Pay-TV operator. In this way, the service from Caracol was not included as a TVE system in this Report.
The multimedia company Globo had a similar model in Brazil. The main Free-To-Air TV chains in the country –which was broadcasted in other markers through Pay-TV- had a platform where it offered “Catch Up TV” of the FTA programming, in their majority soap operas, for a monthly subscription of R$ 12.90 (only in Minas Gerais). The transaction option was not available.
Furthermore, the operator Movistar had the platform "Movistar Video" in Peru, which offered live games of the local soccer tournament (of which Media Networks, subsidiary of Telefónica, owned the rights and broadcasted through the exclusive
theme Pay-TV channel, CMD), in addition to the qualifying games for the Soccer World Cup of 2014.
It was available for the company's Internet subscribers, and it authentication by the Pay-TV user was not required for access, therefore, Movistar Video was not listed in this report as a TV Everywhere platform.
In the same way, Une EPM of Colombia, for example, had a mobile TV service for computers and mobile devices (tablets), capable for users of 4G LTE (through USB dongles), which was not included because it was an Internet added value service.
4. Distribution of the TV Everywhere services
Table 1. Penetration of the TVE services (%) over the total of subscribers (millions) in Latin America. Seven countries. Q412.
Pay TV Country subscribers ESPN Play Moviecity Play Muu HBO Go Hot Go Telecine Play Fox Play* DirecTV Sports Premiere FC Philos TV Argentina 8,12 82,0% 12,6% 3,6% 0,3% 71,1% 24,2% Brasil 16,33 34,7% 36,6% 4,6% 13,4% 6,7% 0,7% Chile 2,18 75,4% 11,3% 2,0% 0,2% 55,9% 13,1% Colombia 4,31 40,2% 7,0% 2,4% 0,1% 40,2% 15,8% México 13,08 34,5% 7,4% 0,2% 4,6% Perú 1,34 79,0% 1,7% 1,7% 11,6% 11,6% Venezuela 3,30 69,2% 9,9% 6,8% 0,1% 45,0% 45,0%
TOTAL 48,66 48,4% 6,0% 12,3% 3,0% 0,12% 4,5% 22,5% 9,4% 2,3% 0,2% Source: Dataxis * Fox Sports Play had the same distribution as Fox Play which is why it wasn’t included in the Table.
On April of 2013 the TVE offer started to gain distribution in the region, as agreements with operators were finalized.
At the end of 2012 there were 48.66 million Pay-TV subscribers in the seven main markets of Latin America. The total did not include the data of Axtel from Mexico, operator with which many platforms had agreements, which was launched on Q113. According to estimates from Dataxis, ESPN Play was the platform with the best distribution in the region: They had agreements with different operators, which allowed it to reach a subscriber potential of 23.5 million, figure that represented 48.4% of the total of Pay-TV subscribers in December of 2012.
Argentina was the country where ESPN Play had the greatest quantity of potential users: 82% of the total of subscribers in that country could access the service thanks to its agreements with the main Pay-TV systems in that country, among them Cablevisión and DirecTV Argentina. In Peru it reached 79% of the Pay-TV subscribers accounted for at the end of the Q212.
In October of 2012, ESPN Play had agreements with 32 operators in 11 countries and the Caribbean. This gave it access to 21.4 million potential users, that is to say, 47.3% of the total of Pay-TV subscribers registered in the seven main countries at the end of Q212.
In this way, ESPN Play added 2.1 million potential subscribers in six months, that is to say, it had a growth of 9.8%. On April of 2013 ESPN had agreements with 36 Pay-TV operators. In the last six month it had added Telecentro and Telered in Argentina; Movistar in Chile and Axtel in Mexico.
In second place was Fox Play (And Fox Sports Play), which in October of 2012 only had agreements with DirecTV Pan-American and Supercanal in Argentina, but six months later it had added agreements with another 10 Pay-TV operators.
By the Q412 the agreements generated by Fox Play with operators allowed it to reach 22.5% of the total of Pay-TV subscribers in the seven main market of Latin America, while by the Q212 that figure was 10%.
In third place was Muu from Globosat, which in the same way as ESPN Play and Fox Play was directed to basic subscribers of the operators with which it had agreements, which allowed it to quickly gain distribution. Muu had a potential of 5.99 million subscribers, which represented 12.3% of total of Pay-TV users in the analyzed countries.
Meanwhile, the TVE service of DirecTV Sports was operational for their clients in the main countries of the Pan-American region, which allowed it to cover a potential of 4.6 million users, that is to say, 9.4% of the total of subscribers of the seven main markets.
In regards to the TVE services of the Premium movie and series channels (Moviecity, Telecine, HBO Go) Dataxis estimated that on average, each Pay-TV operator of the seven main markets had 15% of their total subscriber base with Premium packages.
In this way, the agreements generated by Moviecity Play allowed it to cover 6% of the total of Pay-TV subscribers in the seven main markets, positioning it was the TVE Premium offer with the best distribution.
The TVE option from Telecine, which in the Q212 reached 2% of the total of subscribers in the region, was available for 4.5% of Pay-TV subscribers registered by the end of 2012. In October of 2012 Telecine Play was available for subscribers of Vivo, Net and GVT, and in April of 2013 it already added Claro, Sky, TV Alphaville and Net Fortaleza.
HBO Go went from covering 1.7% of the Pay-TV subscribers in the Q212, to being available for 3% of the total of subscribers registered by the end of 2012. Initially, the platform was available through Sky of Brazil and DirecTV of Colombia, but in April of 2013 it was also available through DirecTV for the rest of the countries that are part of the Pan-American division (except for Puerto Rico and the Caribbean).
The channel Premiere FC only offered its TVE service for subscribers of Sky and GVT in Brazil. Dataxis estimated that on average the channel reached 20% of the total base of each one of these operators, figure that represented 6.7% of the total subscribers in Brazil, and 2.3% of the total of Pay-TV subscribers in the seven main markets of Latin America.
The VOD channel Philos TV was only available for HD/HD DVR subscribers of NET, which were the ones who had access to the operator’s VOD platform, called Now. Dataxis estimated that 2% of the total base of the operator was subscribed to the channel. This figure represented 0.7% of the total of Pay-TV subscribers in Brazil, and 0.2% of the subscribers in the seven main markets of Latin America.
Finally, the service Hot Go of Claxson had a subscriber potential of 0.12% over the total of Pay TV subscribers in the seven main markets of the region. The low percentage with respect to other options was due to the fact that subscribers had to be subscribed to the full package for adults (and not only to Venus or Playboy separately), to be able to access the platform. In this case, Dataxis estimated that, on average, 0.5% of the total base of subscribers of each Pay-TV operator had the full package of adult channels.
Dataxis observed that among the main Pay-TV services of the region SKY Mexico was the only one that had not finalized agreements for TVE. In the same way, Claro had only agreed with Telecine Play in Brazil, but it had not partner with any platform in rest of Latin America. Claro had its OTT VOD Clarovideo in Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Mexico. In general, the TVE systems continued to finalize agreements with more operators.
Graph 1. Distribution (%) of the TV Everywhere services over the total of Pay-TV subscribers in Latin America. Seven countries. Q412.
2,3% 0,2% ESPN Play 9,4% Moviecity Play Muu HBO Go 48,4% 22,5% Hot Go Telecine Play Fox Play 4,5% DirecTV Sports
0,12% 12,3% Premiere FC 6,0% 3,0% Philos TV
Source: Dataxis
Graph 2. Evolution in the distribution of TVE (%) in Latin America over the total of Pay-TV subscribers. Seven countries. Q212 Vs. Q412.
60,0% 48,4% 50,0% 47,3%
40,0%
30,0% 22,5%
20,0% 12,3%
11,5% Q212
10%
9,4% 8,9%
6,0% Q412
10,0% 5,4%
4,5%
3,0%
2,0% 2,0%
2,3%
1,7%
0,12% 0,11% 0,0%
Source: Dataxis