Connected TV (CTV) Landscape in Mexico for 2025
Mexico is undergoing a quiet yet powerful transformation in how audiovisual content is consumed. More than 51 million people in the country already consume CTV, representing 65% of internet users, according to data from IAB Mexico. For mid-sized digital agencies, this represents an opportunity that didn't exist just three years ago: accessing massive audiences on big screens without the prohibitive budgets of traditional television.
CTV advertising in Mexico is no longer the exclusive territory of large corporations. Rates have become accessible, platforms have simplified their booking processes, and specialized companies like Masha allow campaigns to be launched from $0.01 per view. If your agency manages clients looking for visual impact and measurable reach, understanding how this ecosystem works in 2025 and 2026 is essential to staying competitive.
Digital advertising investment in Mexico is projected to grow by 10.5% annually, reaching 13.14 billion dollars by 2026, according to Globe Newswire. A significant portion of that growth comes directly from CTV, where brands are redirecting budgets previously allocated to linear TV or even traditional digital formats.
Growth in Smart TV and streaming device penetration
The Mexican Smart TV market has exploded over the last five years. Asian brands have flooded the market with affordable options, and today, virtually every new television comes with an integrated operating system and access to streaming apps. This has democratized access to on-demand content in households of all socioeconomic levels.
Streaming devices like Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, and Chromecast have complemented this penetration. Many Mexican families who had older televisions opted for these devices to turn them into Smart TVs, further expanding the available advertising inventory. Samsung TV Plus, which comes pre-installed on millions of Samsung televisions, has gained significant ground as an entry point to free, ad-supported content.
Profile of the Mexican digital consumer: habits and preferences
The Mexican CTV consumer has very specific characteristics. According to IAB Mexico, 64% of CTV users in Latin America are willing to watch ads if the platform is free. This is gold for advertisers: a receptive audience that understands the value exchange between free content and advertising.
Consumption hours are concentrated on weekday evenings and throughout the day on weekends. The most popular content categories include movies, series, news, and sports. For agencies, this means that segmentation by time and content type can be just as effective as traditional demographic segmentation.
Advertising inventory purchasing and contracting models
Understanding how CTV inventory is purchased is crucial before presenting proposals to your clients. There are two main paths, each with specific advantages depending on the budget and campaign objectives.
Programmatic buying vs. direct buying with publishers
Programmatic buying allows you to access multiple streaming platforms from a single point. You use a DSP (Demand Side Platform) to bid on impressions in real time, automatically optimizing based on performance. This model works well for campaigns seeking broad reach and constant optimization.
Direct buying involves negotiating directly with each platform or publisher. You get fixed prices, inventory guarantees, and premium placements. The downside is that it requires more negotiation time and generally higher investment minimums. For clients looking to partner with specific content or who need brand safety guarantees, direct buying remains relevant.
Platforms like Masha have simplified this process by offering access to premium inventory from multiple publishers through a single interface, eliminating the need to negotiate with each one separately. This significantly reduces campaign implementation time.
Private Marketplaces (PMP) and preferred deals
Private Marketplaces are an interesting middle ground. They function like programmatic auctions but with restricted access to select buyers. Publishers offer their premium inventory to a closed group of advertisers, usually with preferential CPMs and greater transparency regarding where the ads will appear.
For mid-sized agencies, PMPs can be an excellent option when the client requires quality inventory but lacks the volume to negotiate direct deals. Some CTV platforms in Mexico offer access to these marketplaces without requiring prohibitive investment minimums, democratizing access to inventory that was previously reserved for large buyers.
Estimated advertising rates and costs in the Mexican market
Speaking clearly about money is essential so you can correctly budget your clients' campaigns. The Mexican CTV market has quite broad price ranges depending on multiple factors.
Factors influencing CPM (Cost per mille impressions)
The CPM in Mexican CTV can range from $80 to $350 pesos, depending on several elements. The platform where the ad appears is the most determining factor: premium content such as original series or live sporting events has higher CPMs than generic FAST channels.
Targeting also impacts the price. Highly specific audiences, such as high-level executives in Mexico City interested in financial services, have higher CPMs than broad audiences without demographic targeting. Seasonality plays its part: the fourth quarter of the year, especially November and December, presents the highest CPMs due to demand from Buen Fin and the holiday season.
An alternative that has gained traction is the cost-per-completed-view model. Platforms like Masha offer rates starting at $0.01 per view, which allows advertisers to pay only when the user actually views the ad, reducing budget waste.
Recommended minimum budgets for national campaigns
For a national campaign with significant reach, budgets vary widely depending on the objectives. A basic awareness campaign can work with 50,000 to 100,000 pesos per month if optimized correctly. Campaigns with sustained reach and frequency goals require investments of 200,000 to 500,000 pesos per month.
The good news is that you no longer need to commit to absurd minimums to test the channel. Masha, for example, allows you to launch campaigns starting at 2,000 pesos without long-term contracts. This makes it easier for agencies to run pilot tests with skeptical clients before scaling the investment.
For regional or local campaigns, budgets can be considerably lower. A campaign focused on Monterrey or Guadalajara can generate measurable results with 20,000 to 40,000 pesos per month, especially if combined with precise geographic targeting.
Main CTV platforms and ecosystems available
The CTV ecosystem in Mexico is more diverse than many advertisers imagine. Each platform has unique characteristics that make it more or less suitable depending on the client profile and campaign objectives.
FAST and AVOD services: Pluto TV, ViX, and Samsung TV Plus
FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television) channels have revolutionized the Mexican market. Pluto TV, owned by Paramount, offers over 100 free linear channels with content ranging from news to classic movies. Its model replicates the traditional TV experience but via streaming, making it familiar to audiences migrating from broadcast TV.
ViX, the TelevisaUnivision platform, holds a privileged position in the Mexican market due to its local content catalog. Telenovelas, entertainment shows, and Mexican sports attract massive audiences. For brands looking to connect with traditional Hispanic audiences, ViX offers a highly relevant cultural context.
Samsung TV Plus comes pre-installed on all recent Samsung TVs, giving it impressive reach without the user needing to download anything. This "passive discovery" generates audiences that other services cannot reach.
YouTube on TV and the Google ecosystem in Mexico
YouTube on connected TVs deserves special mention. Many Mexican users utilize YouTube as their primary source of entertainment on the big screen, consuming everything from tutorials to content from local creators. The advantage of YouTube is the granularity of targeting inherited from the Google ecosystem.
Through Google Ads, you can target by interests, search behaviors, demographics, and remarketing. This allows for CTV campaigns that are highly personalized and would be impossible on other platforms. The downside is that YouTube mixes CTV inventory with other devices, so you need to set up specific campaigns for TV screens if you want to isolate that inventory.
Specialized companies and CTV agencies in Mexico
The Mexican market has various players that can help you execute CTV campaigns. Understanding the differences between them will allow you to choose the right partner for each client.
Differences between Media Agencies and Trade Desks
Traditional media agencies have incorporated CTV into their offerings, but generally as a complement to their core services. They work with multiple channels and can offer integrated strategies, but their specialization in CTV varies considerably. Some have dedicated teams with real experience, while others simply resell inventory without significant optimization.
Independent trade desks specialize in programmatic buying and often have greater technical expertise in CTV. They offer access to multiple DSPs and can optimize campaigns with greater granularity. However, their service fees can be high for mid-sized budgets.
Self-service platforms like Masha represent a third option that has gained relevance. They allow agencies to control campaigns directly without intermediaries, with transparent pricing and no hidden fees. For mid-sized digital agencies already managing other digital advertising platforms, the learning curve is minimal.
Criteria for choosing an advertising technology partner
When evaluating options, consider these practical elements. Price transparency is fundamental: ask specifically what percentage of the budget actually reaches the media and what is kept as fees. Some intermediaries keep 30% or more of the budget without the client knowing.
Access to inventory relevant to your clients is another key criterion. Not all partners have access to the same streaming platforms. Verify that they can deliver impressions on the services where your client's audience is.
Measurement and reporting capabilities determine how well you will be able to demonstrate results. Look for partners that offer real-time metrics, not monthly reports that arrive weeks after the campaign has ended. Implementation speed also matters: some platforms allow you to launch campaigns in minutes, while others require weeks of setup.
Advanced segmentation and real-time results measurement
The true advantage of CTV over traditional television lies in its segmentation and measurement capabilities. This is where you can demonstrate differential value to your clients.
Using first-party data and state-level geolocation
Geographic segmentation in Mexican CTV allows you to go from a national level down to specific cities. You can create campaigns that only show in Nuevo León, or more specifically in the Monterrey metropolitan area. For clients with local businesses or regional distribution, this eliminates wasted impressions in areas where they do not operate.
The use of first-party data amplifies the possibilities. If your client has a database of customers with emails or phone numbers, some platforms allow you to create custom audiences for targeting or exclusion. You can show ads only to existing customers for upselling promotions, or exclude them to focus on acquiring new customers.
The combination of demographic data, interests, and viewing behavior allows for the creation of highly specific segments. A sushi restaurant in Polanco can target people in that area who are interested in gastronomy and consume lifestyle content. This level of precision was unthinkable in traditional TV.
Essential KPIs: VTR, unique reach, and offline attribution
Video Through Rate (VTR) measures what percentage of users watched the entire ad. In CTV, VTRs are usually significantly higher than in other digital formats because the user is in an active viewing context. VTRs of 85% to 95% are common in CTV, compared to 15% to 30% in standard digital video.
According to Demand Local, interactive CTV ads have engagement rates of 1.8% to 3.5%, and "shoppable" ads convert five times better than standard video ads . These data points are powerful arguments for clients who are skeptical of the format.
Unique reach tells you how many different people saw your ad, eliminating duplication. This is crucial for calculating effective frequency and avoiding overexposure. Offline attribution connects CTV impressions with real-world actions: store visits, phone calls, or point-of-sale purchases. Some platforms offer lift studies that measure the increase in these metrics attributable to the CTV campaign.
The future of CTV advertising for Mexican agencies
The projections are clear: according to Adlatina, by 2030, 82.2% of advertising investment will come from digital sources. CTV will represent a growing slice of that pie, and agencies that master this channel will have a significant competitive advantage.
For mid-sized digital agencies, the time to get in is now. Barriers to entry have dropped dramatically, tools have been simplified, and clients are increasingly receptive to exploring this channel. The key is to start with controlled tests, obsessively measure results, and scale what works.
If you are looking for an accessible way to start offering CTV to your clients, explore Masha. The platform allows you to launch streaming TV campaigns starting at $2,000 pesos, with no contracts or minimum spend requirements, registration in under five minutes, and real-time metrics. It is a practical way to test the channel without committing large budgets while you learn how the ecosystem works.
