Media in Colombia - statistics & facts

Coronavirus, social turmoil, and media’s (un)popularity

The impact of COVID-19 on multiple sectors and nations across the world also boosted the digital trend in countries like Colombia. The consumption of connected TV (CTV), over-the-top (OTT) media services, and social networks increased, while legacy media was left further behind. The novel coronavirus also elevated Colombians' dissatisfaction. Citizens started to protest in the streets in the first half of 2021 –the government’s responses to the pandemic were among the reasons for the uprising. However, the frustration was not limited to partisan politics. In May 2021, during the apex of the demonstrations, media favorability reached a historic low as nearly two-thirds of Colombians interviewed over the phone expressed a negative opinion of the industry.

An online reinvention in the making

Despite the sound and fury, a more digital future finds in Colombia a solid present. According to a September 2020 projection, the number of video-on-demand (VoD) subscriptions was forecast to increase by over 150 percent between 2019 and 2025. The audio segment is also finding its way through the internet. In May 2021, two out of the top 10 digital radio brands in Latin America were headquartered in Colombia: RCN and Blu Radio. Both belong to companies originally founded in the first half of the 20th century, which indicates that mainstream media groups lead the race for digitalization. Similarly, the three main online news sources for opinion leaders in Colombia are electronic versions of traditional print media from that country, namely the magazine Semana and the newspapers El Tiempo and El Espectador.

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