Watch Non StopA region built for live television
Several Latin American countries have not one or two but half a dozen competing news channels, on air all day, built around live studio discussion and reporters in the street. Argentina is the best-known case, and Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Peru are close behind. Many of these channels run a permanent official live stream, which is why they regularly appear high in the trending ranking.
For a Spanish speaker anywhere in the world, that means a great deal of live television is available on the open web. For a learner of Spanish, it is the best free listening material in existence.
Country by country
- Argentina. The capital of rolling news: channels such as TN and C5N have made continuous live coverage a national habit. Expect long studio panels and strong opinions.
- Mexico. The largest Spanish-language market. National networks, news channels attached to major newspapers, and many regional stations.
- Colombia. Strong national news operations and a lively regional television tradition.
- Chile and Peru. Compact, professional news sectors, most useful during elections, protests and earthquakes, when the whole region tunes in.
- Central America and the Caribbean. Smaller national channels, grouped under the regional heading where they are few.
Brazil: a world of its own
Brazil is not part of the Spanish-language market. It is a Portuguese-language television universe of its own, with public channels, parliamentary and judicial channels that stream their sessions in full, news channels, and a very large religious broadcasting sector. It has its own entry on the country pages, and it rewards separate exploration.
Beyond the news
Music
Latin music is one of the deepest parts of the catalogue: salsa, cumbia, regional Mexican, reggaeton, bossa nova and tango each have continuous streams. They sit in the music category, which counted 678 streams on air as this page was built. The guide to non stop music radio explains how the category is organised.
Faith
Catholic and evangelical channels broadcast services, talk and music around the clock across the region. They are among the most stable live streams you will find.
Sport
Football is the regional passion, and sports talk is a genre in itself: hours of live debate before and after every match day. The matches of the major leagues and continental cups are sold to rights holders and are not part of the free layer. The debate around them largely is.
Regional and community television
Provincial channels, university channels and community stations stream local news and culture. They are the least polished and often the most interesting, because they show a country that its national channels do not.
Parliaments and public institutions
Several national congresses and senates in the region run their own television channels and stream their sittings in full. During a budget vote, a constitutional debate or an impeachment procedure, these unedited feeds are the primary source that every news panel is commenting on, and they are worth opening alongside one.
When to watch
The region runs from the time zones of Mexico to those of Argentina and Brazil. Morning news magazines are long and lively; the main bulletins are in the early evening; late evening is for political panels. Brazilian prime time is famous for its drama, but those productions are rarely included in open streams.
How to use it on Watch Non Stop
- Open the country page for Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Chile or Brazil, or the Latin America heading for the others.
- Sort your attention by the live marker: the channels on air come first.
- For a regional story, put two countries' news channels in the multiview wall of the Console.
- Use the language filter set to Spanish or Portuguese to cut across borders, including the Spanish-language channels made in the United States and Spain.
Why it matters outside the region
Latin American coverage of a regional event is routinely days ahead of what reaches international channels, and far more detailed. An election in one country is covered live by its neighbours as a matter of course. If you follow the region for work, for family or out of interest, the national channels are the primary source, and they are a click away on the news pages.