Media Ownership Chart
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In 1983, 50 corporations controlled the vast majority of all news media in the U.S. At the time, Ben Bagdikian was called "alarmist" for pointing this out in his book, The Media Monopoly . In his 4th edition, published in 1992, he wrote "in the U.S., fewer than two dozen of these extraordinary creatures own and operate 90% of the mass media" -- controlling almost all of America's newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations, books, records, movies, videos, wire services and photo agencies. He predicted then that eventually this number would fall to about half a dozen companies. This was greeted with skepticism at the time. When the 6th edition of The Media Monopoly was published in 2000, the number had fallen to six. Since then, there have been more mergers and the scope has expanded to include new media like the Internet market. More than 1 in 4 Internet users in the U.S. now log in with AOL Time-Warner, the world's largest media corporation. In 2004, Bagdikian's revised and expanded book, The New Media Monopoly , shows that only 5 huge corporations -- Time Warner, Disney, Murdoch's News Corporation, Bertelsmann of Germany, and Viacom (formerly CBS) -- now control most of the media industry in the U.S. General Electric's NBC is a close sixth. Who Controls the Media? Parent General Electric Time Warner The Walt Viacom News Company Disney Co. Corporation $100.5 billion $26.8 billion $18.9 billion 1998 revenues 1998 revenues $23 billion 1998 revenues $13 billion 1998 revenues 1998 revenues Background GE/NBC's ranks No. 1 on The largest media corporation in With its 1995 Viacom's purchase of CEO Rupert the Forbes 500. Prior to the world, Time Warner owns merger with Paramount, CBS and Murdoch's style its merger with NBC and film and music production Capital Blockbuster Video enables has inspired an alliance with companies, theme parks, sports Cities/ABC, them to use cable, respect and fear, Microsoft, GE specialized teams, magazines, websites Disney has television, movies, comic and it has also in electronics. The and book publishers as well as become a fully- books, theme parks, music made his peacock owns many New Turner Broadcasting integrated media publishing and book multinational York sports team. It also giant. In addition publishing to cross-market ventures in owns or has equity to its theme their products. Broadcasting publishing, stakes in many popular parks, the alone brings in over $6 television and websites, including company profits billion in revenues. satellite services Snap.com and iVillage. from retail very successful. outlets, The company magazines, book owns 20th publishers, Century Fox, the websites, motion New York Post, pictures, sports the London teams, TV, cable, Times, TV Guide, radio, music and many stadiums, newspapers. the LA Dodgers and five New York sports teams. Networks NBC TURNER BROAD- WB ABC CBS UPN FOX Owned CASTING includes programming, Television includes ABC includes includes includes news and more than 13 includes sports Network Radio, ABC Video stations, programming programming TV and radio stations teams, and ABC Network CBS Radio, and TV and stations programming, News CBS stations production, retail, Telenoticias (50%) book publishing and and CBS multimedia Network News Cable Owns 25-50% of the • HBO (75%) • Disney Channel • Nickelodeon • Fox Family Interests following: • Cinemax • Disney • MTV Channel (50%) • HBO Direct Broadcast Television (58 • M2: Music Television • Fox News • A & E (with Disney and • Court TV (33% with GE) hours/week • VH1 Channel Hearst) • TBS Superstation syndicated • Showtime • fx (50% with • American Movie • Turner Classic Movies programming) • Nick at Nite's TVLand TCI's Liberty Classics (25%) • TNT • Toon Disney • Paramount Networks Media) • Biography Channel • Cartoon Network • Touchstone Comedy Central (50% with • fxM (50% with (with Disney and Hearst) • Comedy Central (37.5% with Television Time Warner) TCI's Liberty • Bravo (50%) Viacom) • A&E (37.5% • TNN: The Nashville Media) • Bravo International • Sega Channel with Hearst and Network • Fox Sports Net • CNBC • OVATION (50%) GE) • Movie Channel (25% with TCI, • Court TV (with Time • Women's Information • Lifetime • FLIX GE and Warner) Television (WIN) (partial) Network (50%) • All News Channel (50%) Cablevision) • Fox Sports Net • TVKO (75%) • ESPN (80% • Sundance Channel (45%) • The National • History Channel (with • 4 regional all-news channels with Hearst) • Midwest Sports Channel Geographic Disney and Hearst) • CNN • ESPN2 (80% • CBS Telenoticias (30%) Channel (50%) • Independent Film • CNN/SI (with Sports with Hearst) • Home Team Sports (66% • FIT TV Channel Illustrated) • ESPN Classic with News Corporation) Partnership • MSG Network • CNNfn (financial network) (80% with • Regional • MSNBC (50%) • CNNRadio Hearst) networks, • National Geographic • Headline News • ESPN West including TV Worldwide • Sportsouth (80% with Guide Channel • News Sport • CNN International Hearst) and Fox Sports • Prime • CNN Airport Network • ESPNews (80% New York • Prism (with Rainbow, a with Hearst) subsidiary of Cablevision, • Buena Vista and Liberty Media, a Television subsidiary of TCI) • Biography • Romance Classics Channel (with GE • Sports Channel and Hearst) Cincinnati, Chicago, • History Florida, New England, Channel (37.5% Pacific, Ohio, Philadelphia with Hearst and GE) • Classic Sports Network • E! (35%) Other Major Players: AT&T (TCI) - Recently acquired by AT&T, TCI's hold on cable, internet and local phone services contributed to $7.6 billion in 1997 revenues. TCI is the second-largest US cable television system provider, and it has 10% ownership of Time-Warner/Turner. The company owns all or part of USA Network, Sci-Fi Network, E!, Court TV, Starz! and Starz! 2, Black Entertainment Television, BET on Jazz, BET Movies/Starz! 3, CNN, TNT, Headline News, Prime Sports Channel, The Learning Channel, Discovery Channel, QVC, Q2, Fox Sports Net, The Travel Channel, Prevue Channel, Animal Planet, The Box, Telemundo, International Channel, Encore, MSG Network, Action Pay-per-view, and the Home Shopping Network. Sony - Sony's main media interests, earning $9 billion in 1997 sales, are in film and television production, movie theaters and music. Universal (Seagram) - In addition to Universal Studios, with its production facilities and theme parks, the company owns the USA and Sci- Fi cable networks. Bestriding The World By Granville Williams of Britain's Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom . Prepared for New Internationalist magazine. Part of MediaChannel's Media Ownership section Global Media Giants The year 2000 saw some staggering media mergers. The results, if you believe all the hype, will be beneficial, benign and transfo rm the way we use the media. Don't believe it. To pay for the staggering costs of the mergers, consumers are going to be bombarded with incessant cross-media promotions. These huge global media giants aren't friendly guests in our home, but hydra-headed monsters. Unless we act to create democratic and accountable media that are regulated in the public interest, their power to influence governments, culture and View the the way we obtain accurate information about the world will be boosted enormously. ownership chart (361KB) Gerald Levin, chief executive, AOL Time Warner has a different view. In a CNN discussion on the future of the media, a few days before the AOL Time Warner merger, he predicted global media would become the dominant industry of the 21 st century — so powerful that they might in fact become more powerful than governments. "So what's going to be necessary is that we're going to need to have corporations redefined as instruments of public AOL Time Warner service," he said, adding: "It's going to be forced anyhow because when you have a system that is constantly available everywhere in the world immediately, then the old-fashioned regulatory system has to give way." The Walt Disney In 2001, however, a more somber note was being struck, as jobs and investment were cut in online operations Company by global media conglomerates, television networks, newspaper groups and Web sites. The media, which a year ago had been uncritically reporting and praising global media mergers, began to point to some of the less Bertelsmann AG palatable consequences. Viacom Media Are Different News Corporation "Antitrust is more than economics. And I do believe that if you have issues in the newspaper business, in book publishing, news generally, entertainment, I think you want to be more careful and thorough in your investigation Vivendi Universal than if the very same problems arose in cosmetics, or lumber, or coal mining. "I mean, if someone monopolizes the cosmetics field, they're going to take money out of consumers' pockets, but the implications for democratic values are zero. On the other hand if they monopolize books, you're talking about implications that go way beyond what the wholesale price of books may be." — Robert Pitofsky, chair, U.S. Federal Trade Commission International Herald Tribune , November 30, 2000 The Big One: AOL Time Warner • January 10, 2000 America Online and Time Warner announce a merger in a stock swap valued at $350 billion. • October 11, 2000 The European Commission clears the merger but makes Time Warner drop its plans for merger with EMI, the U.K.-based music group. • December 14, 2000 The Federal Trade Commission approves the merger. • January 11, 2001 The Federal Communications Commission approves the merger with conditions to maintain competition on