A media conglomerate describes companies that own large numbers of companies in various mass media such as television, radio, publishing, movies, and the Internet. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article is concerned with the production of books, magazines, and other literary material (whether in printed or electronic formats). ... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as...

Terminology

A conglomerate is, by definition, a large company that consists of divisions of seemingly unrelated businesses. A conglomerate is a large company that consists of divisions of often seemingly unrelated businesses. ...

It is questionable whether media companies are unrelated, as of 2007. 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. It has not so far replaced the more traditional usage. crosoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKSE: 4338) is a multinational computer technology corporation with global annual revenue of US$44.28 billion and 76,000 employees in 102 countries. It develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices.[5][4][2] Headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA, its best selling products are the Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software. These have all achieved near-ubiquity in the desktop computer market, approaching fulfillment of Microsoft's original goal, "A computer on every desk and in every home, running Microsoft software."[6] Microsoft possesses footholds in other markets, with assets such as the MSNBC cable television network, the MSN Internet portal, and the Microsoft Encarta multimedia encyclopedia. The company also markets both computer hardware products such as the Microsoft mouse as well as home entertainment products such as the Xbox, Xbox 360, Zune and MSN TV.[5] 2007 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Originally founded to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800, Microsoft rose to dominate the home computer operating system market with MS-DOS in the mid-1980s.[1][7] The company released an initial public offering (IPO) in the stock market, which netted several of its employees millions of dollars due to the ensuing rise of the stock price.[8][9][10] Throughout its history the company has been the target of criticism, including monopolistic business practices — the U.S. Justice Department, among others, has sued Microsoft for antitrust violations and software bundling.[11] Known for what is generally described as a developer-centric business culture, Microsoft has historically given customer support over Usenet newsgroups and the World Wide Web, and awards Microsoft MVP status to volunteers who are deemed helpful in assisting the company's customers.[12][10]

Examples

Some of the largest media conglomerates include:

• AT&T
• Berlusconi Group
• Bertelsmann
• Canwest Global
• CBS Corporation
• Comcast Corporation
• General Electric
• Hearst Corporation
• Lagardère Media
• Liberty Media
• News Corporation
• NHST MediaGroup Norges Handels og Sjøfartstidende
• Organizações Globo
• Grupo PRISA
• Sony
• Time Warner
• The Times Group (distinct from Times Newspapers of News Corportation)
• Viacom (owned by National Amusements)
• Vivendi
• The Walt Disney Company

AT&T (NYSE: T) is the largest provider of both local and long distance telephone services, wireless service under the brand Cingular Wireless, and DSL Internet access in the United States. ... Bertelsmann AG is a transnational media corporation founded in 1835, based in Gütersloh, Germany. ... CanWest Global Communications Corp. ... CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS) is an American media conglomerate focused on broadcasting, publishing, billboards, and television production, with most of its operations in the United States. ... Comcast Corporation, (NASDAQ: CMCSA) based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is the largest cable company in the United States. ... GE redirects here. ... The Hearst Corporation is a large privately-held media conglomerate based in New York City. ... Lagardère Media is the name for the media activities of the Lagardère Group. ... The Liberty Media Corporation is an American media conglomerate. ... News Corporation (abbreviated to News Corp) (NYSE: NWS, NYSE: NWSa, ASX: NWS, LSE: NCRA) is one of the worlds largest media conglomerates. ... In statistics, a null hypothesis is a hypothesis set up to be nullified or refuted in order to support an alternative hypothesis. ... Organizações Globo is a Brazillian media conglomerate, the 5th biggest in the world. ... Grupo PRISA PRISA (Promotora de Informaciones, S.A) is a media conglomerate company and the biggest editorial in Spain founded in 1972 by José Ortega Spottorno. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Time Warner Inc. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... News International is a British newspaper publisher owned by Rupert Murdochs News Corporation. ... Viacom (NYSE: VIA) (NYSE: VIAb) is an American media conglomerate with various worldwide interests in cable and satellite television networks (MTV Networks and BET), and movie production and distribution (the Paramount Pictures movie studio and DreamWorks). ... National Amusements is a chain of movie theaters spanning 1,300 screens, mainly in the New England and Mid-Atlantic areas of the United States. ... Vivendi SA (formerly known as Vivendi Universal) is a French media conglomerate with activities in music, television and film, publishing, telecommunications, the Internet as well as video games. ... The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) is one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world. ...

Criticism of consolidating media groups

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 other interests, and of contributing to the merging of entertainment and news 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 partisan political groups which often perceive the news productions biased toward their foes For the newspaper that gave News Corporation its name, see The News (Adelaide). ... Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning to cultivate), generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. ... A KFC franchise in Kuwait. ...

In response, the companies and their supporters state that they maintain a strict separation between the business end and the production end of news departments.

See also

• Concentration of media ownership
• Media proprietor
• Lists of corporate assets
• Media Institution

Concentration of media ownership (also known as media consolidation) is a commonly used term among media critics, policy makers, and others to characterize ownership structure of mass media industries. ... A media proprietor is a person who controls, either through personal ownership or a dominant position in a public company, a significant part of the mass media. ... Much of the worlds assets, particularly in the media industry, are concentrated in the hands of a small number of large corporations. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Media conglomerate. ...

External links

• Media Institutions
• http://wethemedia.edublogs.org
• A visual representation of 25 years of media mergers and how the biggest media conglomerates in the United States came to be