Media and Journalism in Brazil: Key Players and Finances Overview

Media Influence Matrix Series

Summary

The Brazilian media system is predicated on the private sector in its fundamental structure. From the inception of the written press to the advent of radio and television, the primary media outlets have been under private ownership and financed by advertising revenue or sales of copies and subscriptions. The market is characterized by dynamism, with significant outlets in all formats. A significant disparity exists between prominent media conglomerates, which typically possess a national reach, and the broader media landscape, which caters to more specific demographics.

It is evident that among the primary corporations, Grupo Globo is distinguished by its preeminence in the communications system, a position it has maintained for the past 60 years. The subject is of pivotal significance in both economic and political terms.

The state has media outlets in the radio and television sectors, but its development at the national level in television occurred in the 21st century, with the creation of EBC (Empresa Brasil de Comunicação). The Rádio Nacional, established by Getúlio Vargas in 1936, functioned as a pivotal broadcaster in the era preceding the advent of television. It has since been assimilated into the EBC system. The origins of Rádio Nacional in the 1940s marked the inception of state media at the national level. During the Vargas period, which extended from 1946 to 1954, Nacional emerged as the dominant national audience leader. The integration of TVE and the Radiobrás system, a national TV system implemented by the military, with state networks and the national system resulted in a greater reach than that of Globo itself.

The dismantling process that occurred during the period of redemocratization gave rise to a considerable degree of precariousness, with the entire infrastructure of state TVE being “leased” to private groups, particularly Globo itself, in certain regions such as Pará and Maranhão. The state had a widespread and relatively relevant structure on the national scene, based on integration with state networks. However, following the end of the dictatorship and the privatization of the Telebrás system in the 1990s, a fragmentation of the system occurred. These media outlets have national reach, yet with the exceptions mentioned, their audience levels remain low, thus failing to constitute significant services within the media ecosystem. Nevertheless, the state is a pertinent economic agent, given its various financing mechanisms for the cultural industries in general.

Media consumption data indicates a decline in the importance of analogue media in recent years. This situation is of critical importance in the press and is beginning to impact television. Conversely, digital media is gaining traction, particularly in the dissemination of information through various platforms. These platforms are increasingly dominant in terms of advertising revenue, which is detrimental to traditional media.

Despite the implementation of compensation mechanisms by prominent platforms (particularly Google and Facebook) in the form of economic support programs, this measure has proven ineffective in fully compensating for the loss of revenue experienced by the media. This state of affairs poses a significant threat to the country’s media diversity.

Main trends

Brazil has a consolidated media system, which has been in place since the 19th century. By the first centenary of independence, the print media had become firmly established, with a significant number of newspapers in the country’s major cities. The dissemination of the press was primarily restricted to the upper classes and professionals.

The origins of mass radio can be traced back to the 1920s, and the country was among the first in the world to introduce commercial television services following the inaugural broadcast in 1950. Television has been a central component of Brazilian culture since the 1960s.

The arrival of the internet was gradual, but it has now achieved high levels of penetration on mobile devices. It is important to note that the quality and speed of the service are contingent on the availability of adequate plans, which are not financially accessible to a considerable segment of the population.

The press is currently experiencing a period of significant challenges and difficulties. A decline in sales and advertising revenue (see Main Sources of Funding in this report) has led to speculation about its future. It is evident that online portals are incapable of compensating for the loss of revenue from the offline world. The most prominent newspapers in Brazil, recognised for their national influence and high circulation, include Folha de S. Paulo, O Estado de S. Paulo, and O Globo. In addition, it is worthy of note that the financial daily Valor Econômico (which belongs to the Globo Group) and Correio Braziliense are also of significance.

Radio remains a medium with high penetration among the Brazilian population. Its extensive reach is reflected in the presence of locally produced programming even in smaller towns, making it one of the few media sectors with a truly nationwide footprint. Radio listening typically occurs in domestic settings, in cars, and in workplaces, where it functions less as a source of information but more as a form of entertainment and companionship. Although the majority of audiences continue to access radio through traditional broadcast receivers, digital consumption has increased in recent years, particularly through internet streaming platforms. This shift has been accompanied by the emergence of a younger listener profile engaging with radio content through online channels.

Brazil’s vibrant musical culture is also reflected in the diversity of its radio sector. The country hosts a wide range of stations offering various musical genres and thematic programming designed to appeal to distinct audience segments. Among the most widely recognized and popular stations are Jovem Pan FM, Rádio Globo, Band FM, Mix FM, Rádio Massa FM, and Transamérica FM, all of which maintain significant audiences across different regions of the country.

Television remains a central medium for both news and entertainment consumption in Brazil. Free-to-air broadcasting ensures that television services are widely accessible in major urban areas and many rural regions. While television viewership spans all socio-economic groups, it is particularly prominent among lower-income households, for whom free-to-air channels constitute a primary source of information and entertainment.

National news programming broadcast by major networks, especially those produced by Grupo Globo, enjoys extensive nationwide reach. Since the 1970s, Grupo Globo has maintained a dominant position within the Brazilian television market, shaping both the structure of the industry and the consumption patterns of audiences.

In parallel with the continued importance of traditional broadcast media, internet penetration in Brazil has expanded significantly. According to Digital 2024: Brazil, a report produced by We Are Social and Meltwater, approximately 86.6% of Brazilians are connected to the internet. The report indicates that users spend an average of 9 hours and 13 minutes online each day. Social media adoption is also substantial: around 66.3% of the population maintain active social media profiles, representing roughly 144 million users. On average, these users spend approximately 3 hours and 37 minutes per day on social platforms. Within this digital ecosystem, the prominence of social media influencers has become particularly notable with some of them commanding audiences that exceed 50 million followers.

Introduction: the origins

Within the historiography of the press and its role in sustaining democratic regimes, numerous scholars have examined how media institutions contribute to political balance, public debate, and civic participation. In the Brazilian context, one notable contribution is the thesis on the historiography of the press and journalism in Brazil from the 19^th to the 21^st century, developed within the Graduate Program in Social Communication at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul. The study suggests that the concept of the press has evolved significantly over time, reflecting broader political, social, and technological transformations. Consequently, the role of journalists and major media outlets has been perceived differently by Brazilian society in distinct historical periods. These shifting perceptions reveal how the press has adapted to changing institutional frameworks and public expectations while continuing to shape the country’s public sphere. The press, therefore, has played a historically important role in the process of reestablishing and maturing the democratic regime in Brazil since the end of the military dictatorship.[1] Moreover, when information is understood as a public right and the press as a key mechanism for the production and dissemination of that information, its significance in strengthening democratic systems becomes even more apparent.

In order to understand the social, economic, and political context of the press in Brazil and how relations between the state, social actors, and national and international companies are structured, it is important to first understand the path taken so far, how each of the mass media outlets entered the country’s media market, and how each new medium interferes with those previously established.

Print media

The history of the press in Brazil is commonly traced to the transfer of the Portuguese Court to the country in 1808. Until that moment, any form of press activity in the colony had been strictly prohibited, including the publication of newspapers, books, and pamphlets. The arrival of the royal court created the institutional conditions necessary for the establishment of printing activities and the emergence of the first periodicals in the territory.

Officially, the first newspaper to be published in Brazil was the Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro, launched in the then capital of the colony, Rio de Janeiro, on 10 September 1808 by the Impressão Régia. Established during the reign of Dom João VI, the newspaper maintained an editorial line closely aligned with the interests of the colonial administration. The institution responsible for its publication would later become the Imprensa Nacional, the government agency tasked with producing the country’s official publications, including the Federal Official Gazette.

Despite its status as the first newspaper printed within Brazilian territory, the Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro was, in practical terms, only the second newspaper in the history of the Brazilian press. The pioneering periodical associated with Brazil was the Correio Braziliense, edited in England by the Brazilian journalist and intellectual Hipólito José da Costa (Hipólito José da Costa Pereira Furtado de Mendonça). Launched in London approximately three months before the Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro, the Correio Braziliense adopted a markedly critical editorial stance toward the Portuguese monarchical authorities and offered political commentary aimed at influencing public debate in the Portuguese-speaking world.[2]

In the years that followed, privately funded periodicals began to emerge, marking an important step in the diversification of Brazil’s early press landscape. One of the most notable examples was the newspaper Idade d’Ouro do Brasil (The Golden Age of Brazil), founded in 1811 in the province of Bahia. Published by the printing press of Manuel Antonio da Silva Serva, the newspaper became the first privately produced periodical in Brazil to achieve regular circulation. The following year witnessed the emergence of As Variedades ou Ensaios de Literatura (Varieties or Literary Essays), and in 1813 the publication of O Patriota (The Patriot). These publications are generally regarded as the first literary newspapers in Brazil.

Throughout the colonial period, spanning from the early 16^th century until Brazil’s independence in 1822, the press gradually expanded, although its development remained limited by political restrictions, economic constraints, and the still fragile infrastructure of printing and distribution. During this time, more than 50 newspapers were launched in the territory. However, most of these publications proved to be short-lived.

Although publishing activity was still in its early stages, it remained largely under the control of the royal authority established in the colony. Prior to his return to Portugal, Dom João VI issued a decree on 2 March 1821 abolishing prior censorship, thereby establishing provisional regulations governing freedom of the press until a new legal framework could be adopted.

Shortly thereafter, on 8 June of the same year, Dom Pedro I decreed the validity in Brazil of the Bases of the Portuguese Political Constitution, enacted on 9 March 1821 in Portugal. This constitutional framework was later complemented by a law adopted on 12 July 1821 that formally incorporated freedom of the press into Portuguese legislation. Widely regarded as the first press law enacted in Portugal, the measure was introduced in Brazil in mid-September of that year, further liberalizing the conditions under which newspapers could operate.

The immediate consequence of these reforms was a rapid expansion of the press. Between June 1821 and December 1822, approximately 20 periodicals were launched in Rio de Janeiro alone. Among them, the most politically influential was the Revérbero Constitucional Fluminense, which became a prominent advocate of emancipationist ideas and served as a spokesperson for the democratic faction associated with Masonic lodges.

During the turbulent period leading up to Brazilian independence in 1822, the press became an important arena for political debate and mobilization. However, the volatile political environment also meant that newspapers frequently appeared and disappeared within short periods, reflecting both the intensity of ideological disputes and the fragile institutional conditions of the early Brazilian press.

Following the proclamation of independence on 7 September 1822, and the gradual stabilization of the political environment, Brazilian journalism entered a phase characterized largely by cultural and intellectual development. During this period, newspapers with republican and abolitionist orientations multiplied, reflecting the growing public debate over political reform and the future of slavery in the country.

Throughout the period known as the Brazilian Empire,[3] the press expanded significantly and approximately 340 newspapers were established in Brazil between 1823 and 1889. Among the most prominent publications of the 19^th century was the Jornal do Commercio, launched in 1827 in Rio de Janeiro. Four years later, another periodical, Beija-Flor, entered the media landscape, contributing to the diversification of editorial perspectives in the country’s growing press sector.

In 1874, the first telegraph news agency operating in Brazil, Reuter-Havas, established a presence in Rio de Janeiro. Its telegram-based news dispatches were reproduced for the first time in Brazil by the Jornal do Commercio in 1877. The agency operated in Brazil for 71 years and eventually evolved into the news organization known today as Agence France-Presse.

An important milestone in this period was the promulgation of the Constitution of the Empire of Brazil, which came into force on 25 March 1824. The document included provisions guaranteeing the civil and political rights of citizens and established principles related to freedom of expression and thought. The constitutional text affirmed the right of all individuals to “communicate their thoughts through words and writings and publish them in the press without censorship,” while simultaneously establishing that individuals could be held accountable for abuses committed in the exercise of this right, in accordance with legal provisions.

Another significant development in the history of the Brazilian press occurred during the period known as the Second Empire, which began with the coronation of Dom Pedro II,[4] on July 18, 1841, and ended on November 15, 1889, when the existing constitutional parliamentary monarchy was overthrown by the Proclamation of the Republic. In 1858, one of the earliest labour mobilizations within the Brazilian media sector took place when typographers in Rio de Janeiro organized the first recorded strike in the country’s printing industry. The movement was led by employees of the newspapers Diário do Rio de Janeiro, Jornal do Commercio, and Correio Mercantil, and was later joined by workers from the Imprensa Nacional. The striking workers demanded a wage increase of ten tostões, a unit of currency in circulation in Brazil at the time.

Several newspapers founded in the 19^th century have continued to operate into the present, although some have undergone significant transformations. Among them is Jornal do Brasil, established in 1891 in Rio de Janeiro and currently published exclusively in digital format. Other longstanding publications include O Fluminense, founded in 1878 in the neighbouring city of Niterói; the São Paulo-based O Estado de S. Paulo, originally launched in 1875 under the title A Província de São Paulo; A Tribuna, published in the city of Santos since 1894; and Correio do Povo, established in Porto Alegre in 1895.

Radio

With the Proclamation of the Republic on 15 November 1889, Brazil entered the period known as the Old Republic (also referred to as the First Republic), which lasted until 1930. This phase marked the country’s first republican political order and coincided with significant transformations in the communication landscape, mainly the emergence of the first serious challenger to the long-standing monopoly of newspapers as a widely accessible and relatively inexpensive source of information: radio broadcasting.

Radio introduced new possibilities for mass communication, notably by expanding access to information beyond the literate segments of society.[5] The first radio broadcast in Brazil took place on 7 September 1922 during the celebrations marking the centenary of Brazilian independence. On that occasion, the President of the Republic, Epitácio Pessoa, delivered a speech transmitted from the summit of Corcovado. The broadcast was received in the pavilions of the international fair Exposição do Centenário da Independência do Brasil (Exhibition of the Centenary of Brazil’s Independence), held in the Praia Vermelha district of Rio de Janeiro, where the signal was amplified through a loudspeaker system. This event is widely regarded as the symbolic starting point of radio broadcasting in Brazil, marking the beginning of a new phase in the country’s media development.

In 1923, the physician, anthropologist, and educator Edgar Roquette-Pinto, together with Henry Morize, founded the country’s first radio station, Rádio Sociedade do Rio de Janeiro, which later became known as Rádio MEC. The station’s programming was primarily dedicated to the dissemination of culture, education, and scientific knowledge. In the same year, another pioneering broadcaster, Rádio Clube de Pernambuco, was established in the city of Recife. As the new medium began to develop, the Brazilian government introduced regulatory measures aimed at shaping its use. In 1924, a decree-law was issued establishing restrictions on the broadcasting of political news on radio, reflecting concerns about the potential political influence of this emerging communication technology.

By the 1930s, the Brazilian radio sector had expanded considerably, with more than 50 stations in operation across the country. Most of these stations were initially established by associations organized around cultural or educational initiatives, rather than by commercial enterprises. However, stations increasingly faced the financial challenges and the need for advertising revenue soon became evident.

With the promulgation of Decree-Law No. 21,111 on 1 March 1932, the government of Getúlio Vargas formally authorized and regulated the use of advertising and publicity on radio broadcasting. The decree represented a turning point in the development of Brazilian radio, although commercial broadcasting remained prohibited during the first year of experimental operation.

The earliest advertising experiments on radio were relatively modest in form, broadcasts typically limited themselves to announcing the names of sponsors associated with particular programmes. Despite this initially limited format, the introduction of advertising as a source of financial support fundamentally transformed the structure and orientation of radio broadcasting which went from being erudite, instructive, and cultural, aimed at the country’s economic elites, to becoming a vehicle for leisure and popular entertainment. This transformation contributed to the consolidation of radio as a mass medium in Brazil, expanding its social reach and reinforcing its role as a central platform for popular culture and public communication.

Radio subsequently entered a period commonly referred to as its “Golden Age,” characterized by the widespread popularization of radio receivers, the consolidation of advertising as a primary source of revenue, and the rapid expansion of commercial broadcasting stations. During this phase, programming became increasingly diversified. While early broadcasts had focused largely on music and general entertainment, the schedule soon expanded to include radio soap operas, studio audience programs, live musical performances, and sports coverage, particularly live football broadcasts, which attracted large audiences across the country.

Within this context, Rádio Nacional do Rio de Janeiro, established on 12 September 1936 as a private company, became one of the most influential broadcasters in the country. On 8 March 1940, the station was incorporated into state assets by President Getúlio Vargas, who recognized the strategic importance of radio as a medium capable of communicating simultaneously with large segments of the population. This decision marked a significant step toward the development of a public broadcasting system in Brazil.

During the 1940s and 1950s, Rádio Nacional became the most widely listened-to media outlet in the country. Its programming combined highly popular radio soap operas, such as Em Busca da Felicidade, Predestinada, Fatalidade, and Maldição, with programs featuring leading entertainers of the period. Participation in radio broadcasts became a major pathway to national recognition, as the medium had already achieved near-national coverage, allowing performers and public figures to reach audiences across most regions of Brazil.

The expansion of radio broadcasting in Brazil continued throughout the following decades, accompanied by a steady increase in the number of licenses granted to broadcasters. According to Mattos (2005), this growth reflects the consolidation of radio as one of the most widely distributed media in the country. By 1964, Brazil already had 1,069 radio stations in operation. This number rose to 1,550 stations by 1981 and continued to expand significantly in the following years. By February 1995, the total had reached 2,938 licensed stations, and by 2003 the National Telecommunications Agency (Brazil) reported 4,305 stations in full operation (Mattos, 2005, p. 147).

During the same period, the print media sector experienced important technological advances that transformed newspaper production and distribution. Newsrooms and administrative departments began incorporating typewriters, which streamlined editorial and administrative processes. At the same time, the introduction of linotype machines significantly accelerated the typesetting process, while the adoption of rotary printing presses enabled larger print runs and improved the quality and speed of newspaper production.

Television

Although television was officially introduced in Brazil with the inauguration of TV Tupi on 18 September 1950, the technology had already been known in the country through experimental and private transmissions since 1939. The station was launched by the media entrepreneur Assis Chateaubriand, founder of the broadcasting conglomerate Diários Associados. Widely known by the nickname “Chatô,” Chateaubriand had begun investing in black-and-white television technology since 1948, anticipating the emergence of television as a new mass communication medium.

The images for the inaugural broadcast were generated in the newly constructed studios of TV Tupi, located next to the facilities of Rádio Tupi in the Sumaré neighbourhood of São Paulo. From there, the signal was retransmitted to the city centre through an antenna installed on top of the Banco do Estado de São Paulo building, enabling audiences in the downtown area to receive the broadcast.

Television journalism in Brazil began shortly thereafter. On 10 April 1952, TV Tupi aired O Seu Repórter Esso, the first television news program in the history of Brazilian broadcasting. The program was inspired by its American counterpart, Your Esso Reporter, and adapted from the radio version already broadcast in Brazil since 1941.

Television became significantly popular in Brazil only during the 1960s and 1970s, a period marked by the wider availability of electronic consumer goods and the gradual expansion of broadcasting infrastructure. As television sets became more accessible to households across different social groups, the medium rapidly consolidated its position as a central platform for information and entertainment.

The expansion of television during this period was also closely connected to the political context of the military regime established after the 1964 Brazilian coup d’état. The authoritarian governments that ruled the country between 1964 and 1985 recognized the strategic value of television as a tool for national integration and political communication. Through carefully curated programming and symbolic narratives, the regime sought to promote an image of unity, optimism, and progress. Cultural and popular elements such as carnival celebrations and football were frequently incorporated into televised content to reinforce this narrative. A notable example was the song Pra Frente Brasil, associated with Brazil’s victory in the 1970 FIFA World Cup, which became emblematic of the government’s attempt to project a sense of national pride and cohesion.

The introduction and diffusion of color television in the early 1970s further reinforced this narrative of technological modernization. By presenting color broadcasting as evidence of Brazil’s entry into a new phase of progress and modernity, the regime sought to align the rapid expansion of television with its broader discourse of economic growth and national development.

The origins of the Grupo Globo date back to 1925, when the organization began operating in the print sector with the launch of the newspaper O Globo. The group subsequently expanded into broadcasting, establishing the radio station Rádio Globo in 1944. Its most decisive expansion, however, occurred with the entry into television broadcasting on 26 April 1965, when it obtained the concession for Channel 4 in Rio de Janeiro and launched TV Globo.

The rapid development of the Globo network during the following decades occurred within the broader political context of Brazil’s military regime (1964–1985). Through its extensive programming and distribution capacity, Globo became one of the most influential media organizations in the country and played an important role in projecting an image of Brazil both domestically and internationally.

The Globo Group, which remains under the control of the Marinho family, has since evolved into a diversified multimedia conglomerate. Its operations extend across several sectors, including television, radio, print publishing, digital platforms, and audiovisual production. In addition to operating the country’s leading television network, the group maintains a wide range of digital media services, magazines, and news production units.

Globo’s market position has historically been strongest in the free-to-air television sector, where it has consistently led national audience ratings. The network operates five owned-and-operated stations and maintains a nationwide system of approximately 115 affiliated broadcasters. In the pay television market, Globo also holds a significant presence, offering a portfolio of channels that includes news programming and specialized sports services, including pay-per-view broadcasting. Beyond broadcasting, the group is active in the music, film, and publishing industries.

According to industry estimates, in 2020 the Globo Group accounted for approximately 33.8% of total media sector revenue and 32.1% of audience share in Brazil. The company also held a particularly strong position in the pay television channel market, where it controlled slightly more than half of total revenues, with a market share of approximately 50.52%.

A media system structured under dictatorship

In Brazil, as in many other countries, the print media sector has experienced a gradual decline since the commercialization and widespread adoption of the internet in the 1990s. This trend intensified with the rapid increase in internet users, particularly from the early 21^st century onward, and became even more pronounced with the expansion of social media platforms in the mid-2010s.[6] In response to these structural changes, many newspapers that were originally established as print publications have expanded their activities into the digital environment, creating online portals and, in some cases, transitioning entirely to digital-only formats. At the same time, the growing concentration of revenues within the digital sector has redirected advertising investment toward online platforms. These markets tend to favor concentration due to structural characteristics such as economies of scale, substantial capital requirements, and strong network effects that reinforce the dominance of established actors.

An important contextual factor in understanding this process is the decisive role played by Brazil’s military regime in shaping the country’s media environment. Beginning in the 1960s, Brazil experienced an accelerated, and often uneven, process of urbanization, accompanied by significant social transformations, including a substantial decline in illiteracy rates. According to the Anísio Teixeira National Institute for Educational Studies and Research (INEP), the national illiteracy rate had fallen to 13.6% by 2000. These demographic and educational changes occurred alongside a period of economic growth, which was largely sustained by extensive borrowing from international financial institutions. While this strategy contributed to a sharp increase in Brazil’s public debt, it also helped generate economic conditions conducive to the expansion of the country’s broadcasting sector, facilitating the growth of mass media infrastructure and the broader dissemination of radio and television services.

According to Mattos (2005), the participation of Brazil’s military government was decisive in shaping the growth trajectory of the country’s mass media sector, reflecting broader state objectives aimed at promoting economic development and national modernization. Three developments are particularly noteworthy. First, the adoption of economic policies centered on rapid industrialization and urban growth, especially in Brazil’s major metropolitan areas, facilitated the expansion of media markets by improving the distribution and circulation of print publications while also increasing the penetration of electronic media and the volume of advertising investments. Second, large-scale infrastructure projects, including the construction of highways and airports, as well as the modernization of postal, telegraph, and telecommunications systems, were implemented as part of the National Transport and Telecommunications System development plan. These investments significantly improved the logistical capacity for distributing both print and broadcast media across the national territory. Third, the government introduced a series of measures aimed at regulating, modernizing, and indirectly controlling the print sector, policies that simultaneously expanded the country’s printing capacity and reinforced the structural transformation of the media industry (Mattos, 2005, p. 135).

The policies implemented during the authoritarian period achieved many of their intended objectives, a result that can be observed in the enduring centrality of broadcast television within the Brazilian media landscape. Television has become the principal source of information for a large segment of the population and frequently also serves as a major channel for entertainment and educational content. Data from the National Household Sample Survey, illustrate the widespread penetration of this medium. In 2014, approximately 97.1% of Brazilian households reported owning at least one television set. By comparison, 93.5% of households had access to a landline or mobile telephone, while only 42.1% reported having a personal computer connected to the internet.

However, the centrality of television in Brazil extends beyond the communication sector and is also reflected in patterns of household consumption and infrastructure access. Television sets are present in approximately 97.1% of Brazilian households, a level comparable to that of refrigerators. This penetration rate significantly exceeds that of other household goods and basic services: washing machines are present in about 58.7% of municipalities, while access to water supply networks reaches 93.9% of households and sewage systems only 72.6%.[7] Regional disparities further highlight the prominence of television in everyday life. In the North and Northeast regions of Brazil, for example, households often possess more television sets than bathrooms or toilets reserved for the exclusive use of residents. In the North, the number of televisions in homes even surpasses that of electric lighting installations. These patterns are not recent developments. For more than three decades, research in the field of communication studies has used such household indicators to illustrate the centrality of broadcast television within Brazilian domestic life.

At the same time, scholars and commentators have repeatedly predicted the decline of broadcast television, particularly with the emergence of new communication technologies. Nevertheless, despite the introduction of commercial internet in the late 1990s and the rapid expansion of social media platforms and digital communication services since the 2010s, broadcast television continues to play a significant role in Brazilian society. It remains a key medium for access to information, for the production and circulation of shared meanings, and for the construction of national cultural narratives.

The historically hegemonic position of broadcast television in the Brazilian media market began to face more substantial challenges with the rapid expansion of internet access in the 2000s. This development was largely driven by the widespread adoption of broadband connections and the gradual reduction in the cost of internet services.[8] The growing relevance of digital platforms has also been influenced by the relatively limited audience reach of pay television channels, as will be discussed later. By 2024, approximately 74.9 million Brazilian households had access to the internet, representing 93.6% of all households.[9] This figure reflects a growth of 1.1% compared to 2023 and indicates a particularly accelerated expansion in rural areas, contributing to a significant reduction in the connectivity gap between rural and urban regions. While in 2016 the difference exceeded 40 percentage points (35.0% of rural households compared with 76.6% of urban households), by 2024 this disparity had decreased to 9.9 percentage points, with internet access reaching 84.8% of rural households and 94.7% of urban households.

Digital inclusion has become an important policy priority for the Ministry of Communications (Brazil) during the third administration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, which began in 2023. Through a series of strategic programs and initiatives, the government has sought to expand the country’s digital infrastructure and extend internet connectivity to underserved populations, including rural areas, Indigenous territories, quilombola communities, and geographically isolated regions. Despite these efforts, however, connectivity in many locations distant from major urban centres remains unstable and uneven, indicating that significant infrastructural and technological challenges persist in achieving universal and reliable digital access across the country.

Media consumption

Within a context markedly distinct from the digital media landscape, Brazilian print journalism has undergone significant institutional decline over recent years, with numerous daily newspapers transitioning to exclusively online operations. During the 2021 fiscal year alone, 12 Brazilian media outlets permanently ceased operations. The majority of these closures were concentrated within the print sector, which accounted for approximately 58% of all newsroom shutdowns, corresponding, in absolute terms, to seven print titles that were discontinued from physical publication.

Print media

The study Regiões de Influência das Cidades (Regic 2018), published by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) in 2020, concludes that the production of Brazilian newspapers is predominantly concentrated in the state of São Paulo, particularly in its capital, followed by Rio de Janeiro and the remaining state capitals. Notably, however, circulation tends not to transcend state boundaries. As the research institute observes, “there are significant regional differences in the decline in print newspaper consumption in the country” (IBGE, 2020, p. 119), which serve to elucidate the asymmetrical patterns of information dissemination through the written press across Brazilian territory.

This downward trend is corroborated by data compiled over the preceding decade. According to a survey conducted by the Instituto Verificador de Comunicação (IVC), daily circulation figures for print media declined substantially, from 1,335,373 copies sold in 2015 to 332,986 copies in 2023, a reduction of approximately 75% over the period. The trajectory of individual publications further exemplifies this contraction: the newspaper O Globo, for instance, recorded its lowest circulation figures in a five-year period by September 2021, with 70,282 copies sold, representing a decline of more than 55% relative to the 156,307 copies registered under the same category of analysis in 2016, according to data compiled by Poder360. In contrast, the number of subscribers to these newspapers’ digital portals increased by 50% in the same period.

Broadcasting

Unlike print media, broadcasting media did not experience a comparable decline in demand following the widespread adoption of the internet, owing in large part to the capacity of both television and radio to be transmitted through digital channels. Radio, the first broadcasting medium to reach the Brazilian public, remains embedded in the daily lives of 79% of the population, according to the Inside Audio 2025 study conducted by Kantar IBOPE Media. The survey further indicates that 69% of listeners value radio for its provision of local information, and that 50% of consumers identify the medium’s credibility as one of its defining attributes, citing the perceived reliability of the information conveyed as a key factor. On average, Brazilians devote three hours and 47 minutes per day to radio consumption. The traditional receiver, the AM/FM dial, remains the predominant mode of access, accounting for 70% of total listenership. Nevertheless, digital platforms constitute a non-negligible share of consumption: radio is accessed via YouTube by 33% of listeners, through audio streaming services by 16%, via stations’ proprietary applications by 13%, and through social media platforms by 12%. The Inside Audio report additionally notes that 60% of radio listeners consume music via streaming services, and that approximately half report having listened to or downloaded podcasts within the preceding three months.

According to data from the Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações (Anatel), Brazil currently operates more than 10,000 radio stations, a figure that positions the country among the world’s leading powers in the sector. Of particular significance is the marked expansion of community radio broadcasting: the Ministry of Communications authorized the operation of 206 community radio stations across the national territory between 2023 and 2024, a figure representing a 275% increase relative to the 55 stations authorized during the equivalent period of 2019 and 2020. The year 2024 alone recorded 121 new authorizations, the highest number of grants awarded by the ministry in the preceding thirteen years. As is the case with print media, the largest and most influential radio stations remain concentrated in major urban centres, particularly São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and other state capitals, where audience density and transmission infrastructure are most developed.

In order to contextualize the data on television consumption, it is necessary to first outline the three phases of television content production and distribution proposed by Lotz (2007). The first is the network era, characterized by a limited range of programming options delivered via conventional television sets. The second phase, the multichannel era, was inaugurated by the advent of pay television technology and the consequent proliferation of channels, which afforded consumers a broader range of programming options and a greater degree of viewing autonomy. The third phase, designated the post-network era, is marked by a significant expansion of consumer independence and the migration of content consumption to new platforms, most notably the internet. According to Lotz (2007), in the United States the network era extended from 1952 to 1980, the multichannel era spanned from the 1980s to the mid-2000s, at which point it gave way to what the author classifies as the post-network era.

In Brazil, however, these transitions unfolded at a considerably later stage than in the United States: pay television operators only commenced operations in 1990, following the liberalization of the Brazilian communications market to international actors.[10] The second phase of Brazilian television, characterised by channel plurality, thus began in the 1990s with the introduction of pay television. Nevertheless, the full diversification of channels and the consolidation of independent production companies only gained significant momentum in the following decade.

In 2023, linear television, encompassing both free-to-air and pay TV, reached 99.2% of the Brazilian population, with an average daily consumption of five hours and 14 minutes. Linear television further accounted for 74.3% of total video consumption, while the average time devoted specifically to video content stood at two hours and 23 minutes. Notably, television alone represented 39.6% of the total media budget, underscoring the medium’s continued dominance within the broader Brazilian media landscape.[11]

The 2024 data indicate a modest increase in audience figures relative to preceding years for TV Brasil, OCA channels, pay television channels, and the residual “Others” category. Conversely, the Globo, SBT, and Record channels recorded slight declines over the same period. Notwithstanding these fluctuations, the hierarchy of audience leadership in the country remains unaltered, with the top three positions firmly held by Globo (10.9 points), Record (3.6 points), and SBT (2.4 points), excluding, in this instance, the aggregate audience of pay television channels, which collectively surpass SBT in total viewership. The overall household audience also declined when considering exclusively the ratings points of free-to-air and public television channels, that is, excluding pay television, OCA, and the “Others” category, falling from 19.3 points in 2023 to 18.2 points in 2024, a contraction of 1.1 points.

Rede Globo retains its position of leadership among Brazilian broadcasters, sustained by a broad programming portfolio encompassing soap operas, news programmes, and major sporting events. Notwithstanding a modest decline in audience share over the five-year period under analysis, the broadcaster continues to lead its competitors by a considerable margin.

This dominance is illustrated by specific audience data from 2025: the flagship news programme Jornal Nacional recorded an average audience rating of 25.3 points in Greater São Paulo, corresponding to approximately 4.9 million viewers. In the context of live sporting events, Globo’s reach proved even more pronounced, the broadcast of the Brazilian national team’s fixture against Argentina in March 2025 attained 28 points in Greater São Paulo, with a 45% share, indicating that nearly half of all active television sets in the region were tuned to the channel at the time of transmission.

Record maintains a relatively stable audience base, anchored in journalistic and religious programming that attracts a clearly segmented viewership. SBT, by contrast, has experienced a progressive decline in audience figures, notwithstanding the continued presence of its established programming, a trajectory that reflects broader challenges facing broadcasters in retaining viewers amid the structural transformations in audiovisual consumption patterns. Band and RedeTV! command smaller, more segmented audiences concentrated in niche sectors such as sports coverage and alternative entertainment formats. Of particular note is the performance of TV Brasil, the public broadcaster, which in 2024 attained a position among the five most-watched channels in the country, a development that may be interpreted as indicative of a gradual diversification of the Brazilian television landscape.

In 2024, two channels shared the leading position in pay television audience ratings: SporTV and Viva each recorded 0.2 audience points, occupying the top two positions, a pattern consistent with trends observed in preceding years. Viva registered a notable increase in audience share, rising from 0.08 points in 2023 to 0.2 points in 2024, a trajectory that may reflect a broader preference among Brazilian viewers for rerun programming. SporTV recorded a comparable increase, from 0.07 to 0.2 points, an improvement attributable in part to the channel’s coverage of the Paris Olympic Games. The elevated performance of other sports channels in the same period lends further support to this interpretation. Considered collectively, the ten most-watched pay television channels registered an overall increase in viewership during the period under analysis. It is also noteworthy that five of the ten highest-rated channels on Brazilian pay television, SporTV, GloboNews, Premiere, Multishow, and SporTV 2, are owned by Grupo Globo, underscoring the conglomerate’s substantial influence over the pay television landscape.

In the post-network era, a survey conducted by Kantar IBOPE Media indicates that approximately 92% of the Brazilian population watched linear or non-linear television at least once a week in 2020. The study further reports that, in the same year, 92% of the Brazilian population accessed video content via television, 64% via YouTube, 38% via pay television, and 33% via the Netflix streaming platform, which is estimated to have surpassed 19 million Brazilian subscribers. These figures point to the consolidation of a new phase in audiovisual production, distribution, and consumption, one characterized by greater consumer agency, increased diversity of audiovisual genres, and the progressive expansion of video consumption across a multiplicity of internet-based platforms.

The Brazilian communications market has undergone a process of progressive decentralization, as private television networks increasingly compete with major global technology corporations, commonly referred to as Big Tech companies, headquartered predominantly in Silicon Valley, United States. It is within this context that the video on demand (VoD) sector began to develop in Brazil, accompanied by a corresponding growth in content demand and greater institutional organization through bodies such as BRAVI, formerly known as ABPITV, the Associação Brasileira de Produtoras Independentes de Televisão (Brazilian Association of Independent Television Producers). Two developments in 2011 proved particularly consequential in reshaping the Brazilian audiovisual market. First, the enactment of Law 12.485/2011 in September of that year established minimum quotas for the exhibition of independent Brazilian content on pay television channels, thereby creating a regulatory environment conducive to the growth of independent production companies. Second, the Netflix streaming platform launched its operations in Brazil in the same year. Together, these developments introduced new structural configurations to the post-network era in the country. Netflix subsequently generated demand for Brazilian content and established partnership agreements with independent production companies: the series 3%, directed by César Charlone and produced by Boutique Filmes in 2016, constituted the first of several such local productions. By 2021, the platform had released 18 original or exclusively licensed Brazilian television and film productions.

In 2019, Netflix commanded 84.5% of the Brazilian streaming market. Until 2020, Globoplay, owned by Grupo Globo, occupied the second position with 8.1% of the market, followed by Amazon Prime Video with 4.4%. The entry of Disney+ into the Brazilian market in November 2020, however, significantly altered this competitive structure. By 2021, the distribution of revenue among the four largest streaming services had reconfigured considerably: Netflix retained market leadership with 67.1%, followed by Disney+ (11.06%), Globoplay (6.9%), HBO-Warner (6%), and Amazon Prime Video (4.8%) (Mastrini et al., 2024).

Relative to 2023, the composition of leading platforms in the Brazilian streaming market remains unchanged, though a notable shift in ranking occurred: Prime Video ascended to first position, while Netflix fell to second. Among the platforms listed, Globoplay and Looke stand as the only Brazilian-owned services. Globoplay distinguishes itself by devoting 28% of its catalogue to Brazilian productions, while Looke’s national content represents 11% of its total offering. Operated by Grupo Globo, Globoplay retains its position as the largest video on demand (VoD) platform dedicated to Brazilian content in the country.

A structural feature common to all sectors of cultural production in Brazil is their pronounced concentration, a historical and enduring characteristic of the Brazilian communications environment. Broadcasting media, for instance, have exhibited marked centralization, both economic and geographical, since the inception of service licensing in the country. The subsequent emergence of new technologies, such as pay television and audiovisual streaming, did not disrupt these historical and institutional configurations; rather, it reproduced them, albeit with their own distinctive characteristics and actors. Indeed, pay television and online video and music streaming services have demonstrated even higher levels of concentration than their predecessors, a tendency attributable in part to the dominant presence of foreign players in both markets.

Both the online media sector and traditional media services face considerable challenges in the context of the growing presence of large global entertainment operators and social media platforms. The most significant threats to date reside in the erosion of audience share and the progressive loss of advertising revenue to these international actors. Notwithstanding these pressures, free-to-air television retains its position as a medium of substantial importance, characterized by high penetration rates and a consolidated audience base. Its revenue turnover surpasses that of other cultural markets; however, its growth remains moderate and has yet to keep pace with inflation, registering a rate of 8.5% against an accumulated inflation rate of 18% for the period spanning 2019 to 2021.

With respect to social media consumption in Brazil, it is important to situate the country within a broader global context: according to Comscore’s report on consumer behavior and the impact of digital platforms, Brazil ranks among the four largest digital markets in the world, recording 131 million unique visitors in December 2024 and leading the Latin American market. Further insights into the Brazilian digital consumer profile indicate that 76% of the population engages with social media on a daily basis. These figures are corroborated by the 2025 Digital News Report, which found that 78% of Brazilians use social media as a primary source of news and information, a figure that contrasts markedly with the 46% who rely on television and the 10% who turn to print media for the same purpose.

The high penetration of the internet in Brazil is further evidenced by the Digital 2024: Brazil report, produced by We Are Social and Meltwater. The survey indicates that 86.6% of Brazilians are connected to the internet, with an average daily usage time of nine hours and 13 minutes. Additionally, 66.3% of the population hold active social media profiles, corresponding to approximately 144 million users, who spend an average of 3 hours and 37 minutes per day on these platforms. A particularly salient finding concerns the commercial potential of online content: 42.3% of social media users report employing these platforms as a tool for product discovery and purchase research, a figure that underscores the growing significance of digital environments as spaces of consumer behaviour. With regard to platform preference, Instagram emerges as the most popular social network, favored by 35.9% of Brazilian users, followed by WhatsApp (33.6%), TikTok (8.0%), Facebook (7.7%), and other platforms.

Main trends in news media and news consumption formats

Over the past two decades, the Brazilian media ecosystem has undergone a profound reconfiguration, shaped by intersecting technological, behavioral, and economic transformations. The digitalization of information consumption, intensified by the widespread adoption of the internet and the ubiquity of mobile devices, has structurally altered the relationship between the public and traditional media institutions.

Within this context, television, radio, and print media confront a twofold challenge: a relative decline in relevance among younger generations, and the imperative to adapt existing financing models to an environment in which audience attention is increasingly contested by digital platforms, social networks, and streaming services. Any assessment of the principal emerging media and their consumption patterns in Brazil must therefore account for the fact that the country is currently navigating a hybrid transition, one situated between the continued dominance of linear television and the steady advancement of digital consumption, particularly through social networks, video on demand platforms, and audio streaming services.

Drawing on recent data from institutions such as the Reuters Institute (2025), Kantar IBOPE Media, DataReportal, and CENP-Meios, as well as scholarship on communication policy and technological innovation, this section examines not only the emergent forms of information mediation, but also their implications for the financing of journalism and the long-term sustainability of the Brazilian media system.

The Internet as the structural basis of news consumption

Brazil ranks among the most digitally connected countries in the world. According to the Global Digital Insights report, approximately 188 million Brazilians, equivalent to 86% of the population, are active internet users, a figure that consolidates the digital environment as the central axis for the circulation of news, entertainment, and advertising content. Mobile connectivity, further accelerated by the expansion of 4G and 5G network infrastructure, has rendered access to information a continuous and increasingly fragmented activity, distributed across micro-moments of engagement and consumed simultaneously on multiple platforms.

This phenomenon is situated within the broader process of communication platformization, defined by Poell, Nieborg, and Van Dijck (2020) as the penetration of digital platform infrastructures, economic processes, and governmental structures into different spheres of life, entailing a concomitant reorganisation of cultural practices and imaginaries around these platforms (Poell, Nieborg, and Van Dijck, 2020, p. 3).

In the field of journalism, this transformation manifests in the growing dependence of both news consumption and production on ecosystems mediated by algorithms, data, and engagement mechanisms, a development that configures a new logic of information circulation, characterized by the structural centrality of large technological platforms.

Digital consumption, however, does not translate automatically into financial sustainability. The propensity to pay for digital news content remains limited: only 22% of Brazilians report holding a digital journalism subscription, a figure that falls below the global average of 24% (Reuters Institute, 2025). Newsrooms consequently face a structural dilemma: while audiences are increasingly concentrated in the digital sphere, the monetization of this audience remains problematic, placing pressure on media organizations to diversify their revenue streams through mechanisms such as events, branded content, and commercial partnerships.

Notwithstanding the advances of digital media, linear television retains considerable reach and continues to occupy a central position in the shaping of public opinion. According to Kantar IBOPE Media (2024), broadcast television reaches 95% of Brazilian households, with particularly pronounced penetration among viewers aged 40 and over and in regions characterized by limited broadband coverage.

Notwithstanding the sustained growth of digital consumption, broadcast television continues to fulfil a fundamental role in covering matters of public interest, including elections, major sporting events, and national emergencies, a function that ensures the medium’s enduring social and symbolic relevance.

In this hybrid scenario, a cross-platform audience model is consolidating, wherein television, streaming services, and social networks coexist while simultaneously competing for audience attention. Major Brazilian broadcasters, among them Globo, Record, and Band, have responded by investing in proprietary platforms and multiplatform strategies that integrate linear broadcasting with on-demand content offerings.

The economic dimensions of this transformation are equally significant. According to IAB Brasil, investment in digital media already accounts for 40% of total advertising expenditure in the country, surpassing broadcast television in urban market segments. Data from CENP-Meios further indicate that the Brazilian advertising market generated R$ 26.3 billion in 2024, representing a 12.2% increase relative to the preceding year. Nevertheless, the substantial majority of these revenues are captured by platforms such as Google, Meta, TikTok, and Amazon, which concentrate both traffic and data, a concrete illustration of the structural power of platformization over the broader media ecosystem.

Digital influencers

To understand the rise of digital influencers as mediating agents of communication in the digital space, it is necessary to situate the emergence and consolidation of these new media figures, which encompass podcasters, YouTubers, and TikTokers, within an alternative and fragmented media ecosystem that has progressively diminished the influence of institutional journalism.

The ascendancy of these new communicative actors is grounded in a social, economic, and technological conjuncture that facilitates the inclusion of non-professional producers within the media landscape, one in which self-presentation and the valorization of personal image are systematically intensified. The term “digital influencer” itself gained discursive prominence after 2015, marking a definitional shift that redefined existing professional nomenclatures (Karhawi, 2017) and reflecting the broader professionalization and expansion of activities undertaken by individuals who have become consequential agents in shaping the decision-making of their audiences.

The growth of video platforms such as YouTube and TikTok has further accelerated a trend toward personality-driven commentary, much of which the aforementioned report identifies as partisan in orientation. From a theoretical standpoint, the emergence of digital influencers foregrounds the centrality of the self as a commodity: the continuous exposure of private life, personal opinions, and consumption practices constitutes the foundation of both the symbolic and financial capital of these actors, a dynamic that, as Karhawi (2017) argues, necessitates a close examination of the “dynamics of influence present in the influencer-audience relationship.”

The prominence of these figures, characterized by strong personality appeal and high levels of audience engagement, illustrates a broader migration of the public toward more informal video formats and a growing preference for narratives mediated by individuals rather than traditional institutional sources. This phenomenon may be understood as a manifestation of platformization (Poell, Nieborg & Van Dijck, 2020), insofar as the algorithmic logic of engagement and datafication systematically favours content with pronounced personal appeal.

In the Brazilian context, the relevance of personalities who regularly address news and political affairs through their digital channels has been growing, despite operating outside the conventions of traditional journalism. A notable example is Gustavo Gayer, a far-right politician whose channels are characterized by controversy and the dissemination of conspiracy theories, a case that reflects the global trend toward the expansion of personality-driven and partisan commentary in digital media environments.

By contrast, there also figures with substantial reach in the domains of entertainment and lifestyle who engage with news content on an occasional basis, among them Virgínia Fonseca, a content creator with 54 million followers on Instagram, and the comedian Carlinhos Maia.

Such cases reinforce the extent to which communication within the Brazilian digital environment is shaped by actors who construct credibility through the exposure of what Karhawi (2017) terms the “self as a commodity” and the strategic performance of intimacy. This dynamic reconfigures the role of information mediation in the digital public sphere and has broader implications for information integrity: according to the Digital News Report (2025), online personalities and influencers are perceived as the greatest source of false or misleading information by 47% of respondents, a figure placing them on a par with national politicians.

TV 3.0: the reinvention of television consumption

TV 3.0, also designated DTV+ (Digital Television Plus), refers to the emerging generation of Brazilian digital television, defined by the convergence between traditional broadcasting and internet-based connectivity services. The implementation process is coordinated by the Ministry of Communications, with regulatory oversight provided by Anatel, and draws on the technical expertise of the Brazilian Society of Television Engineering (Sociedade Brasileira de Engenharia de Televisão), which is responsible for testing and evaluating the new standard. In the commercial sphere, the Associação Brasileira de Emissoras de Rádio e Televisão (ABERT) and the country’s main media groups, most notably Grupo Globo, are actively participating in the development and testing of the technology.

This technological evolution seeks to reconfigure both the viewer experience and the prevailing models of audiovisual content distribution, financing, and production. In April 2025, the Ministry of Communications received the first prototypes of antennas and converters compatible with the TV 3.0 standard, signalling that infrastructure development in Brazil has entered a tangible and operational phase, with concrete testing and demonstration of the equipment that will underpin the new standard. Beyond the mere transmission of linear signals, TV 3.0 introduces substantive innovations: it replaces the conventional concept of digital channels with application-based interfaces integrated directly into receiving devices, enabling multimedia navigation that combines live broadcasting, on-demand content, and interactive functionalities. The significance of this transition was further underscored in August 2025, when the then Minister of Communications, Frederico de Siqueira Filho, characterised TV 3.0 as a “social and economic revolution.”

The development of the Brazilian DTV+ standard entailed extensive technical deliberation and the selective adaptation of elements drawn from the international ATSC 3.0 standard^[12], as deployed in countries such as the United States and South Korea, with modifications tailored to the specific conditions and requirements of the national market. In August 2025, through a presidential decree, Brazil formally adopted this technology for its broadcasting system, thereby consolidating its regulatory framework and extending the implementation schedule across the national territory.

Beyond its capacity to enhance the quality of the audiovisual experience, TV 3.0 represents a substantive reconfiguration of the role of broadcasting within the Brazilian media ecosystem. By integrating broadcast transmission with broadband connectivity and interactive content, the technology establishes a structural bridge between the traditional television model and the contemporary demands of digital convergence and content personalization. Within this framework, free-to-air television ceases to function solely as a passive medium and is repositioned as a connected environment capable of competing with streaming platforms and social networks, not only in terms of reach, but also in functionality and capacity for innovation, thereby stimulating consumption across both news and entertainment sectors. This technological transition carries particular significance in the Brazilian context, given the enduring centrality of free-to-air television within the country’s broader media landscape and its continued relevance as a primary medium of public communication.

Main Sources of Funding

Non-Governmental Financing

Advertising revenue constitutes the largest share of investment in the Brazilian media sector, notwithstanding the significant degree to which media organisations remain dependent on state subsidies (Aires & Santos, 2017).

Total advertising investment in the Brazilian market, calculated in US dollars using the average annual official exchange rate, amounted to USD 5.12 billion in 2017, USD 4.709 billion in 2023, and USD 4.816 billion in 2024, according to data published by CENP-Meios.

A media sectors recorded declines in advertising investment in 2020, coinciding with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. From 2021 onwards, however, internet-based advertising and out-of-home (outdoor) media have maintained a consistent growth trajectory, whereas print, broadcast, and cinema have not yet recovered to pre-pandemic investment levels.

This contraction in investment in so-called traditional media may be understood as broadly commensurate with corresponding gains in the digital sector, though print media has been disproportionately affected relative to radio and television. The media sectors in which news content is actually produced, electronic and print, are thus confronted with a structural shift in which advertising investment is progressively redirected toward digital platforms that function primarily as distributors rather than producers of content. This dynamic raises substantive questions regarding the long-term viability of existing investment models should the trend observed over the preceding four years persist.

As documented in the report Concentration in Communications, Media, and the Internet in the Southern Cone 2019–2021, traditional media services have encountered significant new barriers with the entry of large global entertainment operators and social media platforms into the market. The main threats identified to date concern the erosion of audience share and the progressive loss of advertising revenue to these international actors (Mastrini et al., 2024).

In the case of print media, the most pronounced decline in advertising investment is attributable to the considerable reduction in copy sales, as previously discussed. Broadcast media, by contrast, have to a significant extent recovered their pre-pandemic investment levels, with the notable exception of free-to-air television, which has ceded ground to streaming services, even in a market such as Brazil, historically characterised by the strong penetration of major television networks such as Globo, Bandeirantes, and SBT.

According to data from CENP-Meios, the Brazilian media market recorded substantial growth in 2024, with total advertising investment reaching R$ 26.3 billion, an increase of 12.17% relative to the preceding year. Internet advertising accounted for 39.8% of this figure, corresponding to revenues of R$ 10.46 billion. Nevertheless, digital media continued to lag behind television, which represented 42.4% of total advertising revenues, generating R$ 11.14 billion. Within this category, free-to-air television accounted for the overwhelming majority, collecting R$ 9.61 billion, equivalent to 86.3% of total television advertising revenue, while pay television accounted for the remaining R$ 1.52 billion, representing 13.7%.

At the global level, the online advertising market, valued at approximately USD 200 billion in 2016, is characterized by a progressive concentration of revenue in the hands of two dominant international actors: Google, owned by the Alphabet holding company, and Facebook, operated by Meta. A comparable dynamic is currently unfolding in Brazil where Google and Meta together account for the near-total dominance of online advertising investment in the country. Domestic players, such as Magalu and Americanas, retain a degree of market presence but remain considerably behind the major technology corporations in terms of revenue generation. Beyond the challenge posed by rising operational costs, the entry of new platforms, most notably TikTok and LinkedIn, introduces additional competitive pressures for incumbents operating within the sector.

Digital advertising investments in Brazil were projected to grow by 59% in 2025.[13] The aforementioned duopoly is anticipated to absorb up to 96% of the total digital advertising budget, with Meta forecast to record growth of 23% and Google 18%. The highest proportional growth, however, is expected to originate from emerging platforms: LinkedIn (+15%), driven by its business-to-business (B2B) orientation, and TikTok (+21%), attributed to its considerable potential for brand awareness generation. These projections are drawn from the MKT Ads Report 2025, a study based on the analysis of more than 600,000 transactions conducted through corporate credit cards on digital advertising platforms.

Drawing on data generated through the Global Media and Internet Concentration Project platform,[14] the period spanning 2000 to 2008 was characterized by comparatively modest aggregate revenues across the Brazilian media market, alongside a pronounced predominance of traditional media formats. The highest revenues during this phase were generated by broadcast television and multichannel video distribution, encompassing cable, satellite, and IPTV services, while radio accounted for a relatively minor share of total market revenue. This pre-digital market configuration was thus defined by limited sectoral diversification and a substantial structural dependence on conventional media.

From 2009 onwards, the Brazilian media market underwent a structural inflection, with revenues from both the broadcast television and multichannel video distribution sectors expanding markedly and coming to dominate the overall revenue profile illustrated in the graph. The defining features of this phase include the significant revenue increase recorded in 2009 itself, followed by sustained growth in subsequent years, culminating in a peak in 2015. This second phase coincided with the accelerated expansion of pay television in Brazil[15], and a concurrent rise in broadcast television advertising revenue[16], both of which provided considerable stimulus to the market. In 2016 and 2017, overall market revenue entered a period of consolidation, with a modest aggregate decline and a growing convergence between the revenue figures recorded by broadcast television and pay television respectively.

From 2018 onwards, a structural transformation is visible, most notably the rapid expansion of online video services, commonly referred to as streaming services, which accelerated markedly from 2020 coinciding with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.[17] This period also witnessed growth in revenues generated by online news services, albeit at a comparatively moderate pace. Print journalism and magazines retain a modest share of total market revenue, with a pronounced migration of consumption toward digital formats. Free-to-air television, alongside the multichannel video distribution sector, maintains a significant revenue volume in absolute terms, yet its relative weight has diminished as a consequence of broader market redistribution.

Of particular note is 2022, which recorded the highest aggregate revenue for the entire period surveyed, driven by strong contributions from both streaming services and linear television. Taken together, these trends point to a market in structural transition: digital media continues to expand its share, while traditional media retains a substantial presence but is experiencing a progressive erosion of its relative prominence within the overall market landscape.

When it comes to the largest players, the highest revenue figures are concentrated among Telefónica, América Móvil, and Telecom Italia, companies operating primarily within the telecommunications sector rather than within the media sector in the editorial or advertising sense. Their prominence thus offers a broader perspective on the structural weight of telecommunications as the dominant infrastructure underpinning the Brazilian communications ecosystem.

The digital platforms Google and Meta, previously identified as the duopoly controlling digital advertising investment in Brazil, appear subsequently in the revenue ranking, at a considerable distance from the telecommunications operators.

Also notable is the limited representation of Brazilian companies. Magazine Luiza and Americanas, the two domestic actors present, occupy a position of clear competitive disadvantage in terms of annual revenue relative to their international counterparts, a disparity that further underscores the degree to which the Brazilian communications market is structurally dominated by foreign capital.

Government Funding

A defining particularity of the Brazilian communications system lies in its economic structure. As previously noted, the majority of investment in this system originates from private sources; however, with the exception of specific segments, such as advertising, the music industry, and telecommunications services, particularly data distribution, most of the Brazilian media system remains profoundly dependent on state funding.

Even the largest Brazilian media corporations occupy a peripheral position when measured against global actors such as Google and Meta, as well as major international telecommunications companies. Government intervention is therefore a structural necessity for sustaining the operational and financial viability of the Brazilian media system and its constituent organisations.

A substantial body of scholarship indicates that the Brazilian state has historically functioned as the principal economic force driving the growth of mass media, providing both technical and financial support to media organisations. The state is correspondingly identified in the literature as the dominant political force exercising regulatory and ideological control over the media sector.

Within the economic development model adopted in Brazil from 1964 onwards, the state has functioned as the principal driving force behind the growth of the cultural industry, a dynamic that has shaped the structural conditions of pay television, broadcast television, and commercial radio, among other sectors (Mattos, 2005, p. 133; Aires & Santos, 2017).

State-owned media outlets are financed primarily through official advertising expenditure, commonly designated as government propaganda. The federal government, encompassing ministries, public banks, and state-owned enterprises such as Correios, Caixa Econômica Federal, and Banco do Brasil, allocates substantial annual sums to publicize programs, initiatives, and public services across a range of media, including television, radio, the internet, and print. Of particular note is the significant increase in advertising expenditure directed toward social media platforms: between January and October 2025, spending on platforms including Meta, Google (YouTube), TikTok, and Kwai more than tripled relative to the equivalent period in 2024, reaching a combined total of R$ 49 million.[18]

This expenditure is administered through contracted advertising agencies, which are nominally required to apply technical criteria in order to reach the intended target audiences. The historically disproportionate allocation of government advertising resources to major media groups, most notably Grupo Globo, has, however, been a persistent subject of criticism and has given rise to longstanding concerns regarding political favouritism in the distribution of public funds.

State funding is also channelled, to a lesser extent, through sectoral development funds, most notably the Audiovisual Sector Fund (Fundo Setorial do Audiovisual, FSA)[19] managed by the Agência Nacional do Cinema (Ancine) in partnership with financial agents such as the Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES), which aim to promote the production and dissemination of audiovisual content and equipment within the communications sector.

Additional instruments of state financing include the following. Law No. 5,070 of 7 July 1966 established the Telecommunications Inspection Fund (Fundo de Fiscalização das Telecomunicações, FISTEL), an accounting fund designed to provide resources for the execution of federal telecommunications inspection services and to support the development and refinement of the technical means required for that purpose. Law No. 9,998 of 17 August 2000 and Law No. 11,111 of 2000 established the Telecommunications Services Universalisation Fund (Fundo de Universalização dos Serviços de Telecomunicações, FUST) whose stated objectives include stimulating the expansion, use, and quality improvement of telecommunications networks and services, reducing regional inequalities, and promoting the adoption and development of new connectivity technologies in the service of broader economic and social development goals. Further instruments include the dissemination of institutional advertising campaigns by agencies and entities comprising the Federal Executive Branch’s Government Communication System; public service announcements, which in 2024 reached R$ 342.8 million, the highest figure recorded in the historical series; and financing through the BNDES, extended to Brazilian companies providing telecommunications services and to Brazilian suppliers of goods and services to the sector, subject to the condition that they are engaged in effective domestic production.

For the three-year period spanning 2023 to 2025, the Management Council of the Fund for the Technological Development of Telecommunications (Fundo para o Desenvolvimento Tecnológico das Telecomunicações, Funttel), linked to the Ministry of Communications and operated in partnership with the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social, BNDES) and the Financier of Studies and Projects (Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos, Finep), approved total investments of approximately R$ 1.1 billion designated for corporate financing, comprising R$ 686.3 million allocated to BNDES and R$ 411.7 million allocated to Finep.

Spending in the two most recent years on record, 2024 and 2025, increased substantially relative to preceding annual averages, notwithstanding a partial contraction in 2025 compared to the previous year. It is further noteworthy that, despite the 44% increase recorded in 2024, total expenditure has yet to surpass the historical peak established in 2014.

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[1] According to Jurgen Habermas, the public sphere is the realm of formation and expression of public opinion, a discursive and deliberative space in which, theoretically, everyone can participate, making use of enlightened reason and exerting influence on the political system. (Menezes, 2022).

[2] A journalist by trade, Hipólito adopted an editorial line in his newspaper that criticized what he considered to be the archaic practices of the Portuguese Court, more precisely, ministers, courtiers, and practices related to monarchical absolutism.

[3] Brazil Empire is the name given to the period when the country was ruled by a constitutional monarchy, which began with independence in 1822 and ended with the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889. This period is divided into three main phases: the First Reign (1822-1831), the Regency Period (1831-1840), and the Second Reign (1840-1889).

[4] Pedro II was the second and last monarch of the Empire of Brazil, having reigned over the country for a period of 58 years. He was the youngest son of Emperor Pedro I of Brazil and Empress Consort Maria Leopoldina of Austria and, therefore, a member of the Brazilian branch of the House of Braganza.

[5] The illiteracy rate among the Brazilian population over the age of 15 was 65.3% in 1900.

[6] The decline of print newspapers began in the late 1990s and early 2000s as a result of technological innovations and advances in digitization. Other important factors are production costs, the logistics chain, and, above all, competition from digital media and the instantaneous nature of information dissemination.

[7] Data from the PNAD-2014 Supplementary Survey on Internet and Television Access. Access at: https://antigo.mctic.gov.br/mctic/export/sites/institucional/indicadores/detalhe/dados_setor_comunicacoes/TIC-2014.pdf.

[8] See more at https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/dinheiro/fi2402200531.htm#:~:text=S%C3%B3%20em%202004%2C%20a%20conex%C3%A3o,to%20access%20the%20internet.

[9] The data was recorded by the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Module of the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (PNAD), published by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). Access athttps://agenciadenoticias.ibge.gov.br/agencia-noticias/2012-agencia-de-noticias/noticias/44031-internet-chega-a-74-9-milhoes-de-domicilios-do-pais-em-2024

[10] The second phase of television in Brazil, with multiple channels, began in the 1990s with the arrival of pay TV. However, the multiplicity of channels and the development of independent production companies only intensified in the 2000s.

[11] For more information, visit: https://www.negociossc.com.br/blog/brasileiros-veem-mais-de-5-horas-de-televisao-por-dia/.

^[12] ATSC 3.0 is the international standard for next-generation digital television developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee, initially adopted in the United States and South Korea. Based on IP protocols, the model allows integration between broadcasting and the internet (broadband), enabling ultra-high-definition transmission, improved mobile reception, interactivity, advertising segmentation, and data services, serving as a technical reference for the implementation of Brazilian TV 3.0 (DTV+).

[13] For more information, visit:https://veja.abril.com.br/coluna/radar-economico/o-apetite-da-meta-e-google-para-abocanhar-publicidades-e-fazer-milhoes/.

[14] The Global Media and Internet Concentration Project is a longitudinal research initiative consolidating more than four decades of data on the global media market. The project examines whether media industries, both individually and collectively, have become more or less concentrated over time across different national contexts.

[15] The pay television subscriber base in Brazil grew by 30.7% in 2010, reaching a total of 9.77 million households, according to data from the Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações (Anatel).

[16] According to a survey conducted by Projeto Inter-meios, the broadcast television advertising market attained its highest revenue since 1990 in 2010, capturing a 62.9% share of total media investment, an increase of 21.6% over 2009. In real terms, the sector recorded revenues of R$ 16.498 billion in 2010, compared to R$ 13.569 billion in the preceding year.

[17] The COVID-19 pandemic represented a period of considerable acceleration in the adoption of video streaming services. With increased discretionary time available, approximately 50% of consumers subscribed to at least one new streaming service between 2020 and 2021, contributing significantly to the influx of new entrants into the market.

[18] Available at: https://noticias.uol.com.br/colunas/tiago-mali/2025/11/18/sidonio-triplica-publicidade-do-governo-lula-em-redes-sociais.htm

[19] The Fundo Setorial do Audiovisual (FSA) constitutes a specific programming category of the National Culture Fund (Fundo Nacional de Cultura, FNC), linked to the Ministry of Culture, and aims to promote the coordinated development of the entire audiovisual production chain in Brazil. It was established by Law No. 11,437 of 28 December 2006 and regulated by Decree No. 6,299 of 12 December 2007.