Media conglomerate

A media conglomerate, media group, or media institution is a company that owns numerous companies involved in mass media enterprises, such as television, radio, publishing, motion pictures, theme parks, or the Internet. According to the magazine Nation, "Media conglomerates strive for policies that facilitate their control of the markets around the world."[1]

These conglomerates exist all around the world, and they became a standard feature of the global economic system in 1950.

Terminology

A conglomerate is a large company composed of a number of smaller companies (subsidiaries) engaged in generally unrelated businesses.

Starting in 2007, it was questioned whether media companies actually are unrelated. Some media conglomerates use their access in multiple areas to share various kinds of content such as news, video and music between users. The media sector's tendency to consolidate has caused formerly diversified companies to appear less diverse because, compared with similar companies, it isn't diverse. Therefore, the term media group may also be applied, however, it has not yet replaced the more traditional term.[2]

U.S. examples

In the 2016 Forbes Global 2000 list, Comcast was America's largest media conglomerate in terms of revenue, with The Walt Disney Company, Time Warner, CBS Corporation & Viacom (both are controlled by National Amusements through supervoting shares), and 21st Century Fox comprising the top six .[3]

International examples

Like the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand also experience the concentration of multiple media enterprises in a few companies. This concentration issue is an ongoing concern for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the Australian Communications and Media Authority and New Zealand's Broadcasting Standards Authority.

Criticism

Critics have accused the large media conglomerates of dominating the media and using unfair practices. This can be seen in the news industry, where corporations refuse to publicize information that would be harmful to their interests. These practices are also suspected of contributing to the merging of entertainment and news (sensationalism) at the expense of the coverage of serious issues. They are also accused of being a leading force behind the standardization of culture (see globalization, Americanization) and are frequently criticized by groups that perceive news organizations as being biased toward special interests.

There is also the concern that the concentration of media ownership reduces diversity in both ownership and programming of TV shows and radio programs. There is also a strong trend in the United States of conglomerates eliminating coverage of local politics in broadcasting, and instead using broadcast automation and voice-tracking, sometimes from another city or another state. Some radio stations use generic satellite-fed programming with no local content, except for the insertion of local radio ads.

Notable examples

Comcast 21st Century Fox Walt Disney Co. CBS Corp. Viacom Time Warner Sony (Japan) Bertelsmann (Germany) Vivendi (France) Televisa (Mexico) Grupo Globo (Brazil)
Movie production studio Universal Filmed Entertainment Group 20th Century Fox Walt Disney Studios (division), UTV Motion Pictures (India) CBS Films Paramount Motion Pictures Group Warner Bros. Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group UFA (Germany) StudioCanal (France) Videocine (Mexico) Globo Filmes (Brazil)
TV production Universal Television, Universal Cable Productions 20th Century Fox Television, Endemol Shine Group (50%) ABC Studios, It's a Laugh Productions, Marvel Television CBS Television Studios Paramount Television Warner Bros. Television Sony Pictures Television FremantleMedia (UK) Banijay Entertainment, Zodiak Media (26.2%) (France) Estúdios Globo (Brazil)
Theme park resorts Universal Parks & Resorts Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Parque Warner Madrid (JV with Parques Reunidos) (Spain)
Broadcast television network NBC, Cozi TV,
Telemundo, TeleXitos
Fox, MyNetTV, Movies! (50%) ABC, LWN CBS, The CW (50%), Decades (JV) The CW (50%) GetTV RTL Group (Luxembourg) Canal+ Group (France) Canal de las Estrellas, Canal 5, Gala TV, FOROtv (Mexico) Rede Globo, Globosat (Brazil), Globo TV International
Cable channels NBCUniversal Cable FX Networks, Nat Geo channels (73%) Disney Channels Worldwide, Freeform, A&E Networks (50%) Pop (50%), Showtime Networks Viacom Media Networks Turner Broadcasting System, HBO Sony Pictures TV networks Televisa (Mexico)
News, business channels/
operations
NBCUniversal News Group, Weather Channel (25%) Fox News, Fox Business ABC News CBS News CNN, HLN GloboNews (Brazil)
National sports networks NBC Sports Group, NHL Network (15.6%) Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2 ESPN Inc. (80%) CBS Sports Network Turner Sports TDN (Mexico) SporTV (Brazil)
Record label Fox Music Disney Music Group CBS Records Comedy Central Records, Nick Records WaterTower Music Sony Music Entertainment BMG (Germany) Universal Music Group Som Livre (Brazil)
Publishing Marvel Comics, Disney Publishing Worldwide Simon & Schuster DC Comics Gruner + Jahr (Germany), Penguin Random House (53%), Bertelsmann Printing Group Editorial Televisa, Intermex (Mexico) Editora Globo (Brazil)
Internet iVillage, Fandango (70%), Hulu (30%) Fox Sports Digital Media, Hulu (30%) Disney Interactive, Hulu (30%) CBS Interactive, CNET MTV New Media Fandango (30%), Hulu (10%), Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Crackle, PlayStation Network Dailymotion, Gameloft Comercio Más, Televisa Digital (Mexico) Globo.com (Brazil)
2015 Revenues (rank) US$74.510 billion US$28.987 billion US$52.465 billion US$13.886 billion US$13.268 billion US$28.118 billion US$67.510 billion US$18.812 billion US$11.811 billion R$16 billion (≈ US$5 billion)

See also

References

  1. Moglen, Eben, Michael Pertschuck, and Scott Sherman, (1999). "Editorials" (Nation, 269: 18). p. 12. ISSN 0027-8378
  2. "A distinction between Business Groups and Conglomerates:The Limited Liability Effect". SSRN Electronic Journal 01/2009; DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.134299. 2009-01-01. Archived from the original on 2016-02-16. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  3. "The World's Biggest Public Companies". Retrieved 18 September 2016.
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