Media conglomerate
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.[1]
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.
Contents
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[update]. The trend has been strongly for the sharing of various kinds of content (news, film and video, music for example). 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.[citation needed]
US examples
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According to the 2015 Forbes Global 2000 list, Comcast is America's largest media conglomerate in terms of revenue, with The Walt Disney Company, 21st Century Fox, Time Warner, CBS Corporation, and Viacom (the latter two conglomerates are controlled by National Amusements through supervoting shares) comprising the "Big Six". [2]
International media
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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 New Zealand's Broadcasting Standards Authority.
Criticism
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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 interests, and of contributing to the merging of entertainment and news (sensationalism) at the expense of tough coverage of serious issues. They are also accused of being a leading force for the standardization of culture (see globalization, Americanization), 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 (TV shows and radio shows). 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 (US)
See also
- Conglomerate (company)
- Concentration of media ownership
- Media imperialism
- Media proprietor
- Multinational corporation
- Lists of corporate assets
Notes
- ↑ Moglen, Eben, Michael Pertschuck, and Scott Sherman, (1999). "Editorials" (Nation, 269: 18). p. 12. ISSN: 00278378
- ↑ http://www.forbes.com/sites/vannale/2015/05/22/the-worlds-largest-media-companies-of-2015/ Forbes Global 2000 The World's Largest Media Companies of 2015
