The 6 largest news outlets in Latin America (2022)

Breaking news: Latin America is a wonderfully rich and diverse region that offers amazing opportunities for growth for international brands! While launching in a new market involves several cultural and operational challenges, working closely with a Latin American agency can help a brand to plan a successful strategy. Understanding the media outlook for public relations is a key factor for success… and the first step is to identify the largest news outlets in Latin America.

The history of media in the Americas dates back to more than 300 years ago. Peruvian historians discovered copies of a local newspaper dating from 1700 at a printing shop in Lima. Fun cultural fact: it was called the “Newspaper of outstanding news from Lima and news from Europe”, with emphasis on stories about the Spanish viceroyalty.

Much has changed since then. Nowadays major newspapers, popular TV broadcasters, radio stations, magazines, websites, YouTubers and viral influencers make up a huge selection of storytellers, focused on fresh topics that are relevant to the local audiences, across generations and consumption trends.

The International Federation of Journalists notes that in Latin America, large conglomerates own multiple media outlets across different platforms, from traditional printed press to digital broadcasters. 

These are the largest news outlets because they have crossed borders and are currently predominant not only in their countries of origin, but all over the region. They have grown during the last decades to reach huge audiences beyond Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Lima or Santiago.

Their stories range from pioneering print, radio and television networks to multi-channel platforms following technological advances. They have also demonstrated an ability to integrate journalistic content with entertainment, which is highly valued by their audiences. 

Their predominance is reflected in their coverage capabilities, economic stability, innovation, historic social relevance and popularity.

Grupo Globo (Brazil)

Based in Rio de Janeiro, Grupo Globo rose from a local newspaper founded in 1925. Their success led the Marinho family to build one of the largest media conglomerates in Latin America, with an audience of 100 million people every single day.

They manage the free to air TV Globo and Canal Futura television channels, radio stations including Radio Globo and CBN, an editorial branch in alliance with Condé Nast and digital media such as G1, Gshow and Globoesporte.

Televisa (Mexico)

Televisa is considered the largest multimedia company in the Spanish-speaking world. It broadcasts 4 national free to air television channels in Mexico and brings together a network of 256 local channels and 5 radio stations.

Through its publishing arm it also edits 11 print and digital magazines for niches with specific interests. Some of them cover lifestyle, such as Harper’s Bazaar and Vanidades, travel and nature in National Geographic, fashion in Cosmopolitan, science in Muy Interesante and teen pop culture in Tú.

Its digital branch publishes wide-ranging news portals such as televisa.NEWS, SDP Noticias, TUDN.com for sports and Codigo Espagueti for tech.

RCN (Colombia)

Part of the Ardila Lülle organisation, this free to air television network is the most successful broadcaster in Colombia. The conglomerate also owns branches for the production of radio, cinema, popular soap operas, sports and news, as well as an alliance with the Fox Channel.

Grupo Clarín (Argentina)

Clarín started in 1945 as a local newspaper from Buenos Aires. Its main goal was to become Argentina’s first mass publication with national scope. Decades later, it has one of the largest circulations in Latin America (around 300,000 copies).

The company also owns popular TV and radio stations such as Todo Noticias, Radio Mitre, TyC Sports and Canal 13, the sports newspaper Diario Olé, Elle and Genios magazines , and the free La Razón newspaper.

Grupo El Comercio (Peru)

Also born from a local newspaper, which was printed for the first time in 1839, Grupo El Comercio has become the largest news outlet in Peru. As well as their main print publication, the group owned by the Miró Quesada family edits more than 15 papers and magazines, including Perú 21, Gestión, Depor, Hola and the local version of Publimetro.

Over recent decades El Comercio group has also managed top television broadcasters such as free to air América Televisión, and the paid TV channel Canal N, focused on news and entertainment. 

It is worth noting that most of their media outlets have popular websites to reach the younger generations. Through this network, the group successfully manages to cover a wide variety of socially engaging stories, from politics to sports and lifestyle.

El Mercurio (Chile)

The El Mercurio newspaper from Chile is one of the oldest and largest news outlets in the region. It was published for the first time in 1900, after which the company expanded through the popular EMOL and SoyChile websites, a second national newspaper called Las Últimas Noticias, three national radio stations and over 20 local newspapers.

These 6 Latin American news outlets all have a huge impact on their audiences, which contain millions of readers, viewers, listeners and followers. But our experience shows that supplying information to news outlets with smaller audiences, segmented into specific interests, can deliver great results as well.

At Sherlock Communications we provide on-the-ground support to clients with local teams at the largest economies in the region. Whether the task is building media relations with the largest news outlets in Latin America, or establishing reliable collaborations with segmented media, our experts will be happy to guide you throughout the journey.