Power + the Media - Who owns all the media?

Power + the Media - Who owns all the media?

• How this relates to hegemony / power + the media.

Television, film, and video game companies seem to come out of the woodwork in today’s startup-centric economy.

But while it may seem like you have limitless options, most of the media you consume is owned by one of six companies. Or better known as the Big 6.

independent media outlets still exist (and there are a lot of them), the major outlets are almost all owned by big 6. To be clear, “media” in this context does not refer just to news outlets — it refers to any medium that controls the distribution of information. So here, “media” includes 24-hour news stations, newspapers, publishing houses, Internet utilities, and even video game developers.

• National Amusements

Unless you’re directly involved in business and / or entertainment, you’ve probably never heard of National Amusements before. The company owns movie theaters throughout the world — about 950 total — but it owns much more than just movie theaters. NA’s huge collection of properties is staggering.

Whether they own a company entirely, possess majority shares, or even own minority voting shares, the scope of NA’s reach is enormous for a company that’s known less than its subsidiaries. To start our look at NA, let’s check out one of the biggest names in modern business — Sumner Redstone.

The most famous assets of National Amusements are almost all Viacom and CBS properties. Combined, they make up the lion’s share of NA’s television and film acquisitions.

• Disney

Disney is probably the most well-known media name on this list. The company has a hand in just about every medium in the world from children’s cinema to sports. When it comes to television and film, there’s a good chance you’re watching something owned by the Disney company — even if it doesn’t have Disney’s name.

Disney's television, and film. Considering they have theme parks built to their entertainment assets, it’s clear that Disney is best known for its TV and film properties. There are so many different companies that are owned by Disney. (Here's a photo...)

• WarnerBros

At the time of publication (11/7/16), it’s possible that ATandT will soon buy TimeWarner for around $80 billion. If that happens, ATandT will acquire everything below and more. In the meantime, let’s take a more in-depth look at TimeWarner and what it owns.

TimeWarner owns an incredible amount of television and film properties. The most famous is probably Warner Brothers Animation Studios, which owns properties like Looney Tunes. Along with that, TimeWarner has joint ventures in The CW and Hulu, along with ultra-niche TV programming for medical waiting rooms.

• Paramount (Comcast)

Comcast is one of the few remaining Internet service providers in the United States. They also provide cable television and phone services to residential and business customers. In 2013, Comcast expanded its reach into entertainment by purchasing NBC and pretty much all of its properties.

While most people know NBC as just a television station, it also has major stakes in media companies around the world. That makes Comcast a major contender in global media, especially in the United States.

TV programming from NBC, cinema from Universal Pictures, and next-gen publishers like AwesomenessTV are all integral to Comcast’s growth and sustainability over the next few decades. Even their religious niche branch — Big Idea — plays an important part in Comcast’s continued success and increased competitiveness in the media world.

• 20 Century Fox

News Corp is the media conglomerate best known for its line of Fox companies. Those include Fox News, FX, and pretty much every other company with the name “Fox” in it. The company generated more than $33 billion in 2012, and it controls a huge number of print products compared to other media conglomerates.

News Corp owns the Fox brand, which means they control a borderline-unreasonable amount of media outlets via television and film. There’s not much more to say about it — News Corp just owns a lot of outlets.

• SONY

Sony is one of the oldest companies on this list since it was founded in 1946. It also has one of the most recent CEO changes. In 2012, Kazuo Hirai became CEO of the entire corporation, which might be the most well-known electronics brand on the planet. But Sony is so much more than an electronics company.

Sony has a hand in dozens of television and cinema companies. Sony works in production, distribution, and just about every other phase of the television and film processes. So it makes sense that Sony owns media outlets in lots of different countries, most notably Japan and the United States.

Add in Essay:

The Big 6 is one of the biggest media producing companies or better known as conglomerates, the understanding of hegemony is leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others. This links well to the Big 6 as they are considered as dominate in the world through the media. However because of the up-coming rise of Web 2.0 this provides people like you and me to create media for ourselves like and post it like YouTube, and other platforms. Shirky had a theory that there are no more passive audiences in the world but rather active audiences because of Web 2.0, we like to comment, like, and share media around us. Shirky calls the audiences who make media for themselves "prosumers" he believes that the big 6 are not the only producers who can make media that others will enjoy. Because of this it also raises the understanding of how professional producers who make movies aren't the dominate media creators anymore and there is a new age of "prosumers".