A media conglomerate, media group or media institution is a company that owns large numbers
of companies in various mass media such as television, radio, publishing, movies, and
the Internet. "Media conglomerates strive for policies that
facilitate their control of the markets around the world." is a modern generalized description.
Media conglomerates exist in Europe and Asia, as well as Latin America. As a legal construct
a media conglomerate has become a standard feature of the global economic system since
1950.
Terminology A conglomerate is, by definition, a large
company composed of a number of smaller companies engaged in seemingly unrelated businesses.
It is questionable whether media companies are unrelated, as of 2007. The trend has been
strongly for the sharing of various kinds of content. The media sector is tending to
consolidate, and formerly diversified companies may appear less so as a result. Therefore,
the term media group may also be applied, however it has not so far replaced the more
traditional term. US examples
According to the 2013 Fortune 500 list, the Walt Disney Company is America's largest media
conglomerate in terms of revenue, with News Corporation, Time Warner, CBS Corporation,
and Viacom completing the top five. Other major players are Comcast and Sony's Sony
Corporation of America subsidiary. International media
Canada, Australia and NZ have perhaps a greater level of media concentration than the US does.
The concentration issue is an ongoing issue for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications
Commission, Australian Communications and Media Authority and its NZ equivalent.
Criticism
Critics have accused the larger conglomerates of dominating media, especially news, and
refusing to publicize or deem "newsworthy" information that would be harmful to their
other interests, and of contributing to the merging of entertainment and news at the expense
of tough coverage of serious issues. They are also accused of being a leading force
for the standardization of culture, and they are a frequent target of criticism by various
groups which often perceive the news organizations as being biased toward special interests.
There is also the issue of concentration of media ownership, reducing diversity in both
ownership and programming. There is also a strong trend in the United States for conglomerates
to eliminate localism in broadcasting, instead using broadcast automation and voice-tracking,
sometimes from another city in another state. Some radio stations use prepackaged and generic
satellite-fed programming with no local content, except the insertion of radio ads.
Notable examples Other examples
Some of the most well-known media conglomerates include:
21st Century Fox ABS-CBN Corporation
Advance Publications American Media
BBC Bell Media
Belo Bennet Coleman and Co. Ltd
Bertelsmann Bonnier
Cablevision Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Clear Channel Communications CBS Corporation
Comcast Discovery Communications
Dogan Group Companies E. W. Scripps Company
Fininvest Fujisankei Communications Group
Gannett Company Grupo Abril
Grupo Clarín Grupo PRISA
Grupo Televisa Hearst Corporation
Hubbard Broadcasting Ion Media Networks
The Jim Pattison Media Group Lagardère Active
Liberty Media The New York Times Company
Neoformat News Corp
Next Media Organizações Globo
Postmedia Network Quebecor Media
Rogers Communications Schibsted
Shaw Communications Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sony Corporation of America Sun-Times Media Group
Time Warner Time Warner Cable
Tribune Company Vice
Viacom Village Voice Media
Vivendi The Walt Disney Company
The Washington Post Company See also
Conglomerate Concentration of media ownership
Media imperialism Media proprietor
Multinational corporation Lists of corporate assets
Ranking – The 50 Biggest Media Corporations 2013
Notes