To make sound business decisions you must have the most current information as well as a solid base of historical information at your disposal. There is no service in Latin America's pay TV industry that delivers what you need to know better than SpendCheck.

Below you will find a comprehensive overview of what has transpired over the last three years, however, we have also identified an opportunity that can be mined immediately because of the dispute between Televisa vs. Grupo Carso. See below for a brief insight into what has taken place. Please contact DataCheck if you want more detailed information.

As the competition between Telmex and Televisa heats up there is a potential for a significant gain by the pay TV channels. Grupo Carso has withdrawn all advertising from Televisa over advertising rate disputes, however, there is also the fact that both companies are now trying to launch services that directly compete with each companies established business. Grupo Carso also decided to withdraw advertising from TV Azteca. Telmex needs to still market its services and reach a wide audience and although the giant has migrated to other over-the-air channels such as Milenio TV, Canal Once, Canal 22 and Canal Tres, pay TV has a tremendous opportunity to benefit from part of the budget from Grupo Carso.

DataCheck did an analysis using SpenCheck, Latin Americas premier competitive intelligence service, to see if there was in fact a migration of Telmex advertising dollars to pay TV.

In fact, the data from SpendCheck indicates that the number of spots Telmex has ran on pay TV is up significantly. What the data shows is that the number of spots on the leading international pay TV channels is up 90% when compared to a recent 5 week period vs. 2010. Then there is the issue of making sure that Telmex ads are distributed and aired as contracted for even if those ads offer competing services with Cablevision. SpendCheck has confirmed that Telmex ads are being blocked on specific channels while allowing ads to pass freely on other channels.

DataCheck will continue tracking this activity as well as all other activities that affect the advertising industry in Latin America and deliver immediate critical data as well as the vital historical information you need to make sound business decisions . Below is an analysis of the last three years of advertising spending across LATAM.

In 2010 the Latin American Pay TV industry proved its resilience in the face of the global economic downturn that has affected the advertising industry in most regions since 2009.

In the four markets measured by Datacheck, spending in pay TV advertising in Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and Venezuela, increased by a significant 11.8% when compared to 2009 and 11.3% when compared to 2008. This increase was led by industries such as Internet Service Providers (ISPs), fragrances, cleaners, and movies. These industries increased their investment in Pay TV by an average of 34% (2010 vs. 2008).

The increase in ad spending by these industries altered the Pay TV advertising landscape, while spending by the usual suspects - cars, wireless equipment and services, and beer/wine categories - decreased overall in 2010 vs. 2008. These categories were heavily affected due to their roles in the market and their global advertising strategies.

The top 10 Pay TV advertisers accounted for 27% of the total share of investment. Procter & Gamble continued to be the number one advertiser with $25.7 million or 5.9% share of investment (SOI) followed by Unilever (20.4 million / 4.7% SOI), Reckitt Benckiser (16.8 million / 3.9% SOI), Colgate-Palmolive (15.9 million / 3.7% SOI) and Hewlett-Packard (7.7 million / 1.8% SOI). Warner Bros Inc. had the highest increase in 2010 when compared to 2009 (62%), and when compared to 2008 (55%). This increase is more than likely, WB taking advantage of the cocooning trend experienced in most markets during the economic downturn.