1992, that number had dropped to less than two dozen, and in recent years, that same

90% has fallen to just Six major conglomerates. Although various mergers and layers of external

control make this an inexact number. Most of the “Big Six” hold interests in film

production, cable and broadcast television, news, sports, music, and online streaming.

So, who exactly controls the media?

As of 2015, the largest media company in the world by revenue is Comcast. According to

the SEC, in 2014, they reportedly made nearly $69 billion dollars. Like the other conglomerates,

Comcast owns nearly every step in media production and distribution. In fact, Comcast is the

single largest cable provider on earth. Content is created through subsidiaries like NBCUniversal,

which is then broadcast over TV and the Internet through Xfinity. Comcast is also a major internet

service provider, covering more than half of all US broadband customers. Even online

streaming giant, Hulu, is jointly owned by three of the Big Six.

The next largest conglomerate is The Walt Disney Company, with reportedly roughly $48

billion dollars in revenue. Disney has holdings in theme parks, movie studios, and diverse

television networks, such as ABC, A&E and ESPN. They also own a number of legacy companies

like Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, and Lucasfilms of the Star Wars franchise.

The third of the “Big Six” is 21st Century Fox, which emerged in 2013 as a spin off of

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. Today, Fox makes about $32 billion dollars a year,

and is predominantly focused on film and television, including Fox News Channel, which made nearly

800 million dollars in ad revenue in 2014.

The last independent conglomerate is Time Warner, with revenues of about $27 billion

dollars. In the 1990s they were the largest media company in the world. But an unsuccessful

merger with AOL at the peak of the dot-com bubble made them lose nearly $100 billion

dollars in 2002. Since then, AOL and Time Inc, as well as Time Warner’s entire cable

division have become separate companies. Because they are now unrelated, Time Warner and Time

Warner Cable are the fourth and fifth largest media companies in the world, according to

Finally, the last two are CBS and Viacom. In 2013 they reported about $14 to $15 billion

dollars in revenue each. They used to be a single company controlled by National Amusements,

a movie theater chain. Today, although they are individually held, National Amusements’

owners have enough stock in both to effectively dictate control. So, in a way, there aren’t

even six conglomerates, but five! Or maybe there are seven?

Some, including former Time Warner’s former vice chairman Ted Turner, have said media

conglomerates have become oligopolies, and that they stifle innovation. But others point

out that they also can provide a greater global reach for smaller and newer companies.

In fact, I work for one of those newer companies, Fusion, which is partially owned by ABC-Disney.

Check out my mini-documentary about independent citizen journalists in Brazil challenging

Rio’s police brutality. Don’t forget to like and subscribe to TestTube News, and make

sure to check out my channel Timcast. Thanks for watching and see ya next time!