Online video is currently driving the growth of nearly every media and entertainment business in the world, as ad-supported models and mobile-first formats reshape the way viewers discover and pay for content. Speaking at Content Americas on Tuesday, Omdia’s Maria Rua Aguete outlines how that change is accelerating and why microdramas are emerging as one of the fastest growing formats for online video.
According to Omdia, global media and entertainment revenue will reach $1.1 trillion in 2025 from $1.3 trillion in 2024, representing annual growth of $70 billion. Of this increase, $64 billion came from online video and $42 billion from advertising. Omdia predicts the market will further expand to reach $1.2 trillion by 2026.
“Growth no longer comes from traditional television,” Rua Aguete told Variety. “Both pay-TV and linear TV advertising are declining, and while streaming subscriptions are still increasing, expansion is becoming increasingly difficult in highly mature markets such as the US, where SVOD penetration is already around 85%. Ad-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 outperform the US
Regional growth remains uneven. In 2025, media revenue in Latin America increased by 9.1% to $58 billion, while media revenue in the United States increased by 3.4% to $424 billion. Online video is already the largest single segment in Latin America at $29 billion, surpassing traditional television’s $18 billion.
The monetization gap is huge. Pay TV average monthly revenue per user (ARPU) is $106.1 in the US versus $17.8 in Latin America, and SVOD ARPU is $12.8 in the US compared to $5.6 in Latin America, highlighting both the region’s lower purchasing power and longer growth runway.
“Latin America still has a lot of headroom,” Rua Agte said. “Streaming penetration is much lower than in the U.S., but hybrid and bundle models are helping to reach new audiences.”
Omdia expects Latin America revenue to grow 10.7% to $65 billion in 2026, with online video expanding to $34 billion, while U.S. growth is improving but still structurally slowing.
Netflix takes the lead as hybrid model normalizes
Across Latin America, Netflix maintains its position as the dominant streaming service, accounting for approximately 50% of the region’s streaming revenue, a position reinforced by ad-supported plans and similar hybrid services now employed by its competitors.
“Advertised plans have expanded our addressable market,” Rua Aguete said. “They have become an important vehicle for growth in price-sensitive regions.”
Social platforms drive discovery
According to Omdia’s November 2025 data, YouTube is the world’s most used video service across devices. In Brazil, YouTube and Instagram Reels are used by 97% of online adults aged 18-64, making social platforms the primary entry point for video consumption.
Usage patterns will change as viewing is measured solely on connected TV sets. Subscription services and FAST platforms remain highly competitive.
“The discovery has moved upstream,” Rua Aguete explained. “There is too much content available, fragmented across multiple paid and free services. People are increasingly finding content on social and mobile first, even if they finish watching it elsewhere. This is critical for formats like microdramas, where marketing costs can be 10 times the cost of production.”
Microdramas are leading the way in rapid growth
FAST continues to expand, with global revenues expected to reach $5.8 billion in 2025 and approach $11 billion by 2030. The United States, Mexico, and Brazil are the largest FAST markets by usage, while Brazil ranks as the second-largest FAST revenue market in the world after the United States.
“FAST remains important, and it remains important in countries like the United States, Brazil, and Australia,” Rua Aguete said. “But Microdrama is built for mobile from the ground up, so it scales more quickly.”
Microdramas and the mobile attention economy
Short-form series, typically one to two minutes per episode, are designed for mobile-first vertical consumption, with global revenue reaching $11 billion in 2025, and Omdia expects the category to grow to $14 billion by the end of 2026, of which $3 billion will come from markets outside China.
While the core audience remains women aged 25-50, the new titles are designed to attract male viewers as well. Discovery is primarily driven by YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
In the fourth quarter, microdrama users spent more time per day watching microdramas on mobile apps than they did on Netflix, Disney+, or Amazon Prime Video in a given region, according to new analysis from Omdia using data from Sensor Tower.
Usage in Brazil remains low but is increasing rapidly.
“It’s more like a game than a TV,” Rua Aguete said. “Costs of production are low, marketing costs are very high, and monetization is done through coins, microtransactions, or even weekly or monthly subscriptions. The advertising experience is often so bad that people pay to see the content they are hooked on.”
Advertising, vertical video and partnerships
Rua Aguete argues that advertising is now the connective tissue that ties streaming, FAST, social video and microdrama together. Currently, approximately 30% of global SVOD subscriptions are delivered through carrier and non-telco bundles, including partnerships with banks and other consumer platforms. In Brazil, creator-led channels like CazéTV are leveraging premium sports rights to overtake traditional broadcasters on YouTube, highlighting how distribution power is changing.
“There is more money in the system,” Rua Aguete said. “But it’s flowing through new channels, advertising, vertical video, mobile-first formats.” He added that the impact is already being seen in platform strategy. “The fact that microdrama users spend more time per day watching short dramas on their mobile phones than Amazon, Netflix, and Disney users watch content on their phones helps explain why all major platforms are now investing in vertical content,” Rua-Aguete said. “Our strategic goal is clear: increase time spent per user on mobile, where engagement is proven to be deeper and more habitual.”
