New Report Mapping Brazil’s Media Landscape Published

The Media and Journalism Research Center (MJRC) has published a comprehensive overview of the Brazilian media system as part of the new Media Influence Matrix 2025+ series, which introduces an updated methodology for analyzing media ownership, financing, and influence across national contexts.

The report is authored by a team led by Guillermo Mastrini, a professor at the National University of Quilmes and the University of Buenos Aires and an independent researcher at CONICET, alongside journalism students from the Federal University of Espírito Santo. Rather than focusing solely on present-day ownership structures, it situates today’s media market within the long arc of Brazilian political history, from press restrictions under the Portuguese Crown to the formative role of the military dictatorship in shaping a broadcasting system that still defines the landscape today.

At the heart of that system is Grupo Globo, which the report describes as the unchallenged dominant force in Brazilian communications for the past six decades. The Marinho family-controlled conglomerate accounts for a third of total media sector revenue and audience share, leads free-to-air television with its flagship Jornal Nacional, and controls five of the ten most-watched pay television channels. Its proprietary streaming platform, Globoplay, remains the largest video-on-demand service dedicated to Brazilian content.

Yet the report documents a media ecosystem under significant strain. Print circulation has collapsed, down roughly 75% between 2015 and 2023, and advertising revenue is migrating rapidly toward Google and Meta, which together capture nearly all of Brazil’s digital advertising budget. Traditional broadcasters, while still dominant in reach, have not kept pace with inflation in revenue growth.

The research also highlights the growing influence of digital intermediaries beyond the established platforms. Social media influencers now command audiences in the tens of millions, and 47% of Brazilians identify online personalities as the leading source of misinformation, on a par with national politicians. Meanwhile, only 22% of Brazilians pay for digital news, below the global average.

One of the report’s more striking findings concerns the structural dependence of Brazilian media on state funding. Even the largest domestic media groups are marginal players compared to global telecommunications and technology giants, and the report argues that government advertising and public financing mechanisms are effectively indispensable to the operational viability of the Brazilian media system, a dynamic that has historically raised concerns about political interference in editorial independence.

Looking ahead, the report examines Brazil’s transition to TV 3.0 (DTV+), a next-generation broadcasting standard that converges linear television with broadband and interactive content, which the government formally adopted in August 2025. The technology is positioned as a potential tool for free-to-air television to compete with streaming services, a significant question in a country where television sets still reach more households than sewage systems.

As part of the new MIM 2025+ format, the narrative reports will be accompanied by a series of dedicated databases offering significantly richer quantitative data on the Brazilian media market. These are currently in preparation and will be released shortly.

The full report is available on Media Influence Matrix dedicated website.

Photo by Bia Santana (via Pexels)