NBC News’ 24/7 streaming platform, NBC News Now, is launching in Mexico and Brazil, Latin America’s biggest markets, as it continues to expand across the world.
Since its launch in 2019, the digital news service has extended its footprint to the U.K., Germany, Austria, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, France, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. It became accessible in Europe through SamsungTV+, Freevee and LG and prioritizes hard news and breaking stories over opinion or commentary-based programming.
Samsung clients in Mexico and Brazil will avail of NBC News Now at no additional fee, which remains ad-supported across all platforms, both domestically and internationally.
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Touted as the first U.S.-based news channel on the platform in the region, its programming lineup includes “Meet the Press Now with Kristen Welker,” “Hallie Jackson Now,” “Top Story with Tom Llamas” and “Stay Tuned Now with Gadi Schwartz,” in addition to “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” and “Dateline NBC.” It claims more live, original programming hours daily than any of its rival streaming news networks.
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The expansion builds on NBC News Now’s record-breaking performance in Q3 and election week. In Q3, NBC News Now achieved its highest viewership ever and its largest quarterly primetime audience to date.
On Election Day, NBC News Now set a new record with over 100 million views, marking its best day ever and also marking its most-watched week. The platform provided continuous live coverage for an unprecedented 40 hours, starting on election morning.
Driven by live video from NBC News NOW and live results pages, NBCNews.com also delivered its best day ever on Election Day.
Meanwhile, its linear cousins in the U.S. also saw ratings highs, which later plunged post-election. They are expected to climb back up as in 2016, the last time Republican president-elect Trump won.
According to Nielsen ratings, MSNBC experienced a strong election night, attracting 6 million viewers. However, its audience declined sharply in the days after the election, dropping to under 1 million.
Research org, Statista, reports that more than 50% of Brazilian internet users read their news online. Mexican TV audiences, on the other hand, gravitate towards legacy media led by Televisa and TV Azteca while they tend to get their online news from leading print newspapers’ websites.
“Despite some regional differences, news consumption in Latin America is pivoting to online sources, driven by the growing popularity of social media and accessibility of the internet,” it revealed.
