Mercado Livre launches entertainment hub in Brazil
August 7, 2023
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Latin American marketplace Mercado Livre has launched a streaming aggregator service for its 77 million customers in Brazil.
Mercado Play results from a partnership with the Disney+, Star+, HBO Max, and Paramount+ streaming platforms. It provides free access to around 1,600 titles, with 6,000 hours of content, including movies, TV series, documentaries, and reality shows.
Revenue will come from ads inserted throughout the movies, while the free content providers include the BBC, Sony, and Lionsgate.
Initially, around 30 per cent of the user base, will have access to free content, with more to be added this month, while the rest of the content will be offered as subscription-based packages.
Current Mercado Livre users that are in level 6 of the group’s loyalty program will initially be offered the Disney+ and Star+ combo for R$17.99 (€3.35) as well as a 30 per cent discount on subscriptions to the HBO Max, Paramount+, and Lionsgate+ platforms.
New subscription packages will be offered in the future, with discounts compared to individual subscriptions to the platforms.
According to Mercado Livre’s VP of entertainment, Luiz Barros, the goal is not to compete with services like Netflix, or Globoplay, but rather provide an ‘entertainment hub’ to a large consumer base that does not have access to streaming.
Mercado Play has already been launched in Argentina and Mexico and will be rolled out to other markets in the region by the end of the month.