THE BIG 6 ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ News Corporation (abbreviated to News Corp) (NYSE: NWS) is one of the world's largest media conglomerates. Its chief executive officer is Rupert Murdoch, an influential and controversial media tycoon. News Corporation is a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange and as a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: NCRA). Formerly incorporated in Adelaide, Australia, the company was re- incorporated in the United States state of Delaware after a majority of shareholders approved the move on 12 November 2004. The company is still listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX: NWS). News Corporation's United States headquarters is on Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) in New York City, in the 1960s-1970s portion of the Rockefeller Center complex. Revenue for the year ended 30 June 2005 was $23.859 billion. This does not include News Corporation's share of the revenue of businesses in which it owns a minority stake, which include two of its most important assets, DirecTV and BSkyB. Almost 70% of the company's sales come from its US businesses. Holdings: Film/TV Production and Distribution 20th Century Fox 20th Century Fox Home 20th Century Fox TV Fox Filmed Entertainment Fox 2000 Blue Sky Studios Fox Searchlight Pictures Fox Animation Studios(defunct) Fox Family World Wide Fox Sports Fox News IGN Entertainment Inc New World Communications Direct TV News Papers/Magazines/Publishers (select) New York Post The Times(Eng) The Sun (Eng) HarperCollins Ecco Press Perennial The Weekly Standard TV Guide Radio/Multimedia (select) Sky Radio Fox Sports Radio News American The Street.com Line One Orbis ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Walt Disney Company (most commonly known as Disney) (NYSE: DIS) is one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world. Founded on October 16, 1923 by brothers Walt and Roy Disney as a small animation studio, today it is one of the largest Hollywood studios and also owns nine theme parks and several television networks, including ABC. Disney's corporate headquarters and primary production facilities are located at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. The company is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. It had revenues of $31.9 billion in 2005.Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group Holdings: Film/TV Production and Distribution Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Feature Animation DisneyToon Studios Pixar Animation Studios Touchstone Pictures/Televison Miramax Films Hollywood Pictures The Disney Channel Buena Vista Television/Home Video/Entertainment Hollywood Pictures Caravan Pictures Toon Disney ESPN (80%) A&E Television The History Channel Lifetime Televison/Network (50%) E! Entertainment (35%) ABC/Capital Cities Television Network News Papers/Magazines/Publishers (select) Walt Disney Publishing Mirimax Books Hyperions Books ESPN Mag Discover Mag Biography Mag NFL.com NBA.com NASCAR.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Viacom is a "high-growth" media conglomerate with various worldwide interests in cable and satellite television networks (MTV Networks and BET), video gaming (part of Sega of America), and movie production and distribution (the Paramount Pictures movie studio and DreamWorks). Tom Freston is the President and Chief Executive Officer; Sumner Redstone is the Chairman and, through National Amusements, majority shareholder of Viacom.Paramount Pictures. The Original Viacom split off as CBS coporation in March 2005. Holdings: Film/TV Production and Distribution Paramount Pictures/Television/Home VideoClassics Republic Pictures MTV Networks/Films VH1, CMT, SPIKE TV, BET Comedy Central DreamWorks/DreamWorks Television Showtime The Movie Channel The Sundance Channel Wilshire Court Productions Spelling Entertainment Group (80%) Spelling Films Spelling Television Republic Entertainment Big Ticket Television Worldvision Enterprises Hamilton Projects TNN Country Music Televisoin CBS Production EYEMARK Kingworld Production Nickelodeon News Papers/Magazines/Publishers (select) Fireside The Free Press MTV Books Nickelodeon Books Simon & Schuster Touchstone Washington Square Press International Book Distributors Radio/Multimedia (select) Flix Star Trek Franchise Sega Xfire ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sony Corporation (ソニー株式会社 Sonī Kabushiki-gaisha?) is Japanese multinational corporation and one of the leading manufacturers of video, communications, and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. Its music, motion picture, television, computer entertainment, and online businesses make Sony one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world. Sony's principal U.S. businesses include Sony Electronics Inc., Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., and a 50% interest in Sony BMG Music Entertainment, the second- largest record company in the world. Sony recorded consolidated annual sales of approximately $67 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005, and it employs 151,400 people worldwide. Sony's consolidated sales in the U.S. for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005 were $18.4 billion.Sony Pictures Entertainment Holdings: Film/TV Production and Distribution Columbia Tri-Star Columbia Pictures TriStar Pictures Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Classics Screen Gems Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (20%) United Artists Orion Pictures Jim Hensen Productions Mandalay Entertainment Phoenix Pictures Cinemax (partial) HBO (Partial) Showtime (Partial) International Television Ventures Game Show Network Radio/Multimedia (select) Sony Playstation Sony Electronics Sony Music Columbia Records Epic Records ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Time Warner Inc. or TimeWarner (NYSE: TWX) (AOL Time Warner Inc. between 2001 and 2003) is the world's largest media company with major Internet, publishing, film, telecommunications and television divisions. The company is headquartered in New York City.Warner Bros. Studios Holdings: Film/TV Production and Distribution Warner Brothers Studios/Televions/Network Warner Independent Pictures New Line Cinema Fine Line Feattures Turner Originals Productions HBO Films/Home Video/Animation/Sports/etc CNN, TNT, TBS Superstation WB TV network Cinemax,Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network. AOL and Compuserve, Nullsoft, Mapquest, Netscape Time Magazine, Fortune, SIllustrated, People,. Castle Rock Entertainment, Major League Baseball Warner Brothers, DC comics, Mad Magazine NewLine Cinema Turner Entertainment, Turner Broadcasting. Picturehouse Court TV Hanna - Barbera Cartoons Telepictures Production Witt - Thomas Productions Castle Rock Entertainment News Papers/Magazines/Publishers (select) American Express Publishing Corporation (partial ownership/management) DC Comics Radio/Multimedia (select) AOL ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NBC Universal is a media and entertainment conglomerate formed in May 2004 by the combination of General Electric's NBC with Vivendi Universal Entertainment, part of French Vivendi Universal. GE owns 80% of NBC Universal with the remaining 20% owned by Vivendi Universal and Barry Diller. The company develops, produces, and markets entertainment, news, and information to a global customer base. NBC Universal owns and operates a United States television network and group of stations, a Spanish-language network, a portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a motion picture company, a number of television production companies, and several theme parks. Bob Wright, who serves as vice chairman of General Electric, is Chairman and CEO of NBC Universal. Holdings: Film/TV Production and Distribution Universal Studios Universal Animation Studios Focus Features American Movie Classics Bravo Paxson Communications Telemundo National Geographics TV CNBC MSNBC A&E Entertainment History Channel Prime Network NBC Valuevision THE 1 MINOR ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS) is a media conglomerate focused largely on the United States market, specifically broadcasting, publishing, billboards, and television production. The President and CEO of the company is Leslie Moonves. Sumner Redstone, whose company National Amusements is CBS's majority shareholder, serves as Chairman. The company split from Viacom and officially became its own publicly traded corporation on December 31, 2005.CBS, UPN, CBS Radio, Simon & Schuster, Paramount Parks, Viacom Outdoor, Showtime, Holdings: Film/TV Production and Distribution CBS Televison, UPN (soon to be merged with The WB as CW in the fall of 2006), CSTV Networks, Showtime Networks CBS Television Stations Television production and distribution: CBS Paramount Television, King World, etc. CBS Radio CBS Digital Media CBS Outdoor Simon & Schuster Paramount Parks (sale pending) CBS Consumer Products Westinghouse Electric Corporation (1998) THE “MAJOR” STUDIOS The “Major” Movie Studios are studios that produce many multiple films per year. These major movie studios include studios that are old (Walt Disney Pictures and Universal) and newer studios (Lions Gate Films and New Line). These movie studios are contrasted with other smaller movie studios, which are known as independent (indie) studios. Typically Hollywood-based, some of these studios are part of six umbrella corporations, known as the Big Six. – 20th Century Fox Buena Vista/Walt Disney Pictures Lions Gate Films New Line Cinema Paramount Pictures Sony Pictures Studios Universal Studios Warner Bros. The Weinstein Company .