Media conglomerate

History

While cross-industry corporate conglomeration began to dominate the market in the mid-twentieth century, with the success of companies like Ling-Temco-Vought, some media companies first began integration in the 1920s. In 1924, The Chicago Tribune bough the WDAP radio station and changed its name to WGN (AM), marking an early example of vertical integration to form a conglomeration. In 1948, the Tribune began WGN-TV, a broadcasting affiliate that operated out of the newspaper's headquarters, further integrating the conglomerate into numerous enterprises within the media industry.

Following the first instances of media conglomeration, the federal government under President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1934. The FCC, created under the Communications Act of 1934, consolidated transferred ownership of radio and public broadcasting to the federal government. Included in this new regulatory structure were broadcast licensing requirements that the FCC charged fees to obtain, leading to the shuttering of some smaller radio stations and the start of the dominance of a few large radio companies. This consolidation caused concern, and lead to the development of the Local Radio Ownership Rule, which puts a cap on the number of stations that a single company can own within a specific market. In 1941, the FCC adopted a similar rule to curb conglomeration within the growing televsion market, banning TV duolopies and preventing one company from owning two stations that serve the same market.

Media conglomerates, like other conglomerates, are typically formed through the process of Mergers and acquisitions, which allow for a company to absorb another entity either by taking control of its assets or consolidating the two. The conglomerate boom of the 1960s jumpstarted the trend, low interest rates on loans made leveraged buyouts relatively easy for large companies. Since interest rates were so low, parent companies could easily absorb subsidiaries as long as profits from the new entity were greater than the loan interest rates for the acquisition.

Widespread global commercialization within the media industry did not begin until the 1980s. Deregulation efforts from the U.S. government and rapid developments in communication encouraged mass media companies to take their domestic enterprises internationally. The subsequent development of conglomerates in international markets has been steady and faster than domestic markets. For example, in 2024, Walt Disney Studios, one of the largest conglomerates in the world, grew its revenue by 9.31% in Asia and 7.83% in Europe, while it grew by just over 1% in the United States.

Criticism

Main article: Concentration of media ownership

Critics have accused the large media conglomerates of dominating the media and using unfair practices. During a protest in November 2007, critics such as Jesse Jackson spoke out against consolidation of the media. This can be seen in the news industry, where corporations refuse to publicize information that would be harmful to their interests. Because some corporations do not publish any material that criticizes them or their interests, media conglomerates have been criticized for limiting free speech or not protecting free speech. 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 of the owners.

Because there are fewer independent media, there is less diversity in news and entertainment and therefore less competition. This can result in the reduction of different points of view as well as vocalization about different issues. There is also a lack of ethnic and gender diversity as a majority of those in media are white, middle-class men. There is a concern that their views are being shared disproportionately more than other groups, such as women and ethnic minorities. Women and minorities also have less ownership of media. Women have less than 7 percent of TV and radio licenses, and minorities have around 7 percent of radio licenses and 3 percent of TV licenses.

Examples by country

In the 2025 Forbes Global 2000 list, Comcast is the world's largest media conglomerate, in terms of revenue, with The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Paramount Global completing the top four.

In 1984, fifty independent media companies owned the majority of media interests within the United States. By 2011, 90% of the United States's media was controlled by six media conglomerates: GE/Comcast (NBC, Universal), News Corp (Fox News, Wall Street Journal, New York Post), Disney (ABC, ESPN, Pixar), Viacom (MTV, BET, Paramount Pictures), Time Warner (CNN, HBO, Warner Bros.), and CBS (Showtime, NFL.com).

In 1941, the Federal Communications Commission enacted a duopoly policy, preventing the ownership of two or more stations by the same parent company within specific boundaries. The current form of this policiy prohibts mergers between the four largest companies in the broadcast television industry. Up until 1975, several laws that restricted channel ownership within radio and television were enacted in order to maintain unbiased and diverse media. However under the Reagan administration, Congress and the Federal Communications Commission, then led by FCC Chairman Mark S. Fowler, began a concerted deregulation over the years 1981 and 1985, increasing the number of television stations a single entity can own increased from seven to 12. In a 1987 article, The New York Times claimed that Fowler transformed "broadcasting licenses, once rigorously monitored by the F.C.C." to "commodities traded on the open market." Now, there is no upper limit imposed on the FCC regarding a single entity's ownership of multiple stations, as long as the net audience reach of the conglomerate is not greater than 39% of U.S. households.

The industry continued to deregulate with enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Signed by President Bill Clinton on 8 February 1996, it was considered by the FCC to be the "first major overhaul of telecommunications law in almost 62 years". In the radio industry, the 40-station ownership cap was lifted, leading to an unprecedented amount of consolidation. Since this period, IHeartMedia grew from 40 stations to 870 stations worldwide, while Viacom grew to owning 180 stations across 41 markets after a merger with CBS in May 2000.

As media consolidation grew, some in the nation began to speculate how it might negatively impact society at large. In the case of Minot, North Dakota, the concerns regarding media consolidation is realized. On 18 January 2002, a train containing hazardous chemicals derailed in the middle of the night, exposing countless Minot residents to toxic waste. Upon trying to get out an emergency broadcast, the Minot police were unable to reach anyone. They were instead forwarded to the same automated message, as all the broadcast stations in Minot were single-handedly owned by IHeartMedia.

Canada, Australia, the Philippines, and New Zealand also experience the concentration of multiple media enterprises in a few companies. This concentration is an ongoing concern for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, the Philippine National Telecommunications Commission, and New Zealand's Broadcasting Standards Authority. Other countries that have large media conglomerates with impacts on the world include: Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, China, Mexico and Brazil. Media conglomerates outside of the United States include Fujisankei Communications Group (Fuji Television), Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings, Hubert Burda Media, ITV, ProSiebenSat.1, Mediaset, Axel Springer, JCDecaux, China Central Television, Alibaba Group, ABS-CBN Corporation, GMA Network, MediaQuest Holdings, Radio Philippines Network, Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Radio Mindanao Network, Advanced Media Broadcasting System, People's Television Network, Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation, Presidential Broadcast Service, Viva Communications, Solar Entertainment Corporation, Nine Media Corporation (RPN's parent company), Prasar Bharati, The Asahi Shimbun, Grupo Televisa, TV Azteca, Grupo Imagen, Grupo Globo, Baidu, GMM Grammy and Bertelsmann.

United States

International

References

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