The pay TV industry is currently undergoing a major transformation. The rise of the OTT model, the fast changes in consumer behavior and new forms of piracy are creating both opportunities and challenges. In Latin America, industry players must adapt to this new landscape, at the same time as they face regional business difficulties, and financial uncertainty.
Jos Alcacer-Mackinlay, sales director for Latam at NAGRA, addressed some of these issues during the panel The future of pay-TV in South America at the NexTV Series Argentina conference last month. The debate had the contribution of important members of the industry, like Fabiana Orlotti, CEO of Montecable, Rodrigo Aliaga, Director of Digital TV Cable, Victor Cantero, Gerente General y Presidente de la C mara de Cable Operadores del Paraguay, and Carlos Wilson Director of WilTel Comunicaciones.
Together they discussed some of the main challenges facing operators and content owners in the region including hybrid linear and OTT models, aggregation of OTTs and channel unbundling, piracy, new strategies for VOD and solutions to increase ARPU and to reduce customer churn.
NAGRA was been one of the very first players in the Latam market to bring in a complete end to end Hybrid Linear/OTT pre-integrated solution, for operators of all sizes. This solution is being constantly developed to add new features on the OTT side with a single sign-on solution offering to watch different channels bundled alongside operator VOD.
The panel also brought forward the need for operators to smartly bundle multiple OTT services on the consumer STB, not only to improve the customer experience unifying multiple sign-ins across OTT accounts and devices, but to also reduce prices with the operator's negotiating power with the OTT as well as its capability for simplifying the billing of multiple services. A better transition across live and OTT content, with AI/data generated recommendations, has became the key to improve user experience, preventing the cord shaving/cutting. One example is the intelligent bundling of live sports along with Sports related OTT content. Many operators are looking at this as a way to keep customers on the operator user interface.
New VOD strategies are also necessary at a time when content is becoming more expensive, and operators need to shelve out a lot of money to have available on demand content from major networks on their offering alongside the live linear broadcast content. Also, sports rights are going through the roof and it is becoming increasingly hard for operators to profit after securing content rights.
When customers subscribe to broadcast channels of these networks, they expect on demand content to be available for free.
The NAGRA Conax GO Live solution allow the streaming of live TV to iOS and Android devices , expanding TV offerings outside the fixed network footprint. By adding VOD and SVOD to their platforms, operators can provide a better experience, and more content options for those subscribers that are only interested on specific events. These tools are important to increase ARPU and to retain customers. But it should also be associated with special bundling offerings, freebies, and other engagement / loyalty programs, to create an environment where the customer feels their investments are paying off.
Piracy
Alcacer-Mackinlay also spoke about the specific challenges linked to piracy in the region, specially for live broadcasts, and pointed out: Live sports are one of the bastions of traditional TV, but we see that with the improvement in broadband access, live sports will be offered as a streaming service . In this context, it's paramount to think about integrated security for the full protection of content. For example, NAGRA watermarking solutions are the go-to option for operators and content owners who wish to protect their investments and mitigate losses by tracking and quickly shutting down pirate distribution.
All these transformations bring enormous challenges for the industry. But they also benefit the consumer putting them at the center of the viewing experience in terms of content selection, better services and control over what to watch, how and when. This improved experience is becoming the rule now in the world, and Latin American players must adapt fast in order to remain competitive.
For more information on NAGRA solutions and services for content monetization and protection, please contact dtv@nagra.com.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Marshall Electronics is showcasing a comprehensive lineup of next-generation POV cameras, purpose-built to power today's connected AV environments, at InfoC...
01/06/2026
Adobe Announces Concept to Vector
Deepa Subramaniam June 1, 2026
0 Comments
One of the biggest frustrations we hear from designers is how difficult it...
01/06/2026
Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton June 1, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist shapes dark, gritty tone for horror thri...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
31/05/2026
Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona The Berklee graduate and faculty member will debut her choral symphony with...
31/05/2026
Taiwan is home to more than 500 NVIDIA ecosystem partners. More than 1 million N...
31/05/2026
As factories move from isolated automation to plant-wide intelligence, manufacturers need AI systems that can connect live machine signals, quality systems, wor...
31/05/2026
The NVIDIA AI Cloud ecosystem is accelerating the global buildout of AI factory infrastructure. Partners are expanding capacity to meet growing demand from ente...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
The pay TV industry is currently undergoing a major transformation. The rise of the OTT model, the fast changes in consumer behavior and new forms of piracy are creating both opportunities and challenges. In Latin America, industry players must adapt to this new landscape, at the same time as they face regional business difficulties, and financial uncertainty. 
