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Concentration of media ownership (also known as media consolidation or media convergence) is a commonly used term among media critics, policy makers, and others to characterize ownership structure of media industries. These individual media industries are often referred to as a 'Media Institution'. An established, often profit based organization that deals in the creation and distribution of advertisements, entertainment and information services. ...
Media ownership is said to be exemplified usually in one or more of the following ways.
First there is a state of oligopoly or monopoly in a given media industry. For example, movie production is known to be dominated by major studios since the early 20th Century. (Before that, there was a period in which Edison's Trust monopolized the industry). The music recording industry in the United States, similarly, is dominated by the major labels. An oligopoly is a market form in which a market is dominated by a small number of sellers (oligopolists). ...
In economics, a monopoly (from the Greek monos, one + polein, to sell) is defined as a persistent market situation where there is only one provider of a kind of product or service. ...
Second, there may be some large-scale owners in a industry that are not the causes of monopoly or oligopoly. Clear Channel Communications, especially since the Telecommunications Act of 1996, acquired many radio stations across the United States, and came to own more than 1,200 stations. Radio broadcasting industry in the United States can be regarded oligopolistic regardless of the existence of such a player. Because radio stations are local in reach, each licensed a specific part of airwave by the FCC in a specific local area, any local market is served by a limited number of stations. This system of licensing makes many markets local oligopoly. The similar market structure exists for U.S. television broadcasting, cable systems, and newspaper industries, all of which are characterized by the existence of large-scale owners. Concentration of ownership is often found in these industries. Clear Channel Communications (NYSE: CCU) is a media company based in the United States of America. ...
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was the first major overhaul of United States telecommunications policy in nearly 62 years, modifying earlier legislation, primarily the Communications Act of 1934. ...
A radio station is a site configured for broadcasting sound. ...
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent United States government agency, created, directed, and empowered by Congressional statute. ...
Chichicastenango, Guatemala traditional market Market stall in internally displaced persons camp in Kitgum, northern Uganda Mercado dos Lavradores, Funchal (Madeira Islands) A market is a mechanism which allows people to trade, normally governed by the theory of supply and demand. ...
Third, concentration of media ownership often suggest the presence of media conglomerates. When a company owns many different types of media businesses, it is referred to as a media conglomerate. The six current media conglomerates are Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, News Corp, Bertelsmann, and General Electric. These companies together own more than 90% of the media market. Conglomerate is: A large company; see conglomerate (company). ...
Disney empire The name Disney may also refer to several aspects of the entertainment empire of The Walt Disney Company: The Walt Disney Company Walt Disney Pictures, the companys flagship motion picture studio Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California The Disney Channel the companys theme parks and...
Viacom (short for Video & Audio Communications) [pronunciation: pre-Redstone/pre-1987: vee-a-com; post-Redstone acquisition: vi-a-com] (NYSE: VIA), (NYSE: VIAB) is an international media conglomerate. ...
Time Warner Inc. ...
News Corporation (NYSE: NWS) is a media conglomerate that operates world-wide. ...
Bertelsmann is a transnational media corporation founded in 1835, based in Gütersloh, Germany. ...
The General Electric Company, or GE, (NYSE: GE) is a multinational technology and services company. ...
Debates Concentration of media ownership is very frequently seen as a problem of contemporary media and society. When media ownership is concentrated in one or more of the ways mentioned above, a number of undesirable concequences follows, including the following: - For the general public, there are less diverse opinions and voices available from media.
- For minorities and others, smaller opportunities exist to voice their concerns and reach the public.
- Healthy market-based competition is absent, leading to slower innovation and increased prices.
For those critics, the deregulation of media and communication industries are lamentable trends, causing or helping the increase in such concentration. Also criticized together at times is the commercialism in media. Competition characterises a biochemical, ecologic, economic, political, or sporting activity whereby two or more individuals or groups strive antagonistically against one another for some reward. ...
Deregulation is the process by which governments remove selected regulations on business in order to (in theory) encourage the efficient operation of markets. ...
A typical counter-arguments to those criticisms include the following:
- Increased competitiveness due to the larger capital of the owners, especially to compete against some of the global, giant media conglomerates
- Reduced cost of operations as a result of consolidation of some functions
- More segmented or differenciated products and services to respond to a wider variety of demands better.
History of Consolidation Regulation Little mass media regulation existed prior to the creation of the Federal Radio Commission in 1927. The Telecommunications Act of 1934, which was a fundamental decision on how mass media would function from then on. At the time, radio technology had become widespread among the masses, and the electromagnetic spectrum was regarded as public property. The Act reappropriated the spectrum to itself, and claimed the right to assign spectrum ranges to private parties as long as they broadcasted in the public interest. This act created the Federal Communications Commission to replace the Federal Radio Commission. Lobbyists from the largest radio broadcasters, ABC and NBC, successfully petitioned to attach a cost to the license required to broadcast, and were thusly able to "price out" many amateur broadcasters that had previously existed. Such was the precedent for much of the following regulatory decisions, which have mostly focused on the percentage of a market deemed allowable to a single company.
The largely unpublicized Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 set the modern tone of "deregulation," a relaxing of percentage constrictions that solidified the previous history of privatizing the utility and commodifying the spectrum. The legislation, touted as a step that would foster competition, actually resulted in the subsequent mergers of several large companies, a trend which still continues. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was the first major overhaul of United States telecommunications policy in nearly 62 years, modifying earlier legislation, primarily the Communications Act of 1934. ...
The FCC held one official forum, February 27, 2003, in Richmond, Virginia in response to public pressures to allow for more input on the issue of elimination of media ownership limits. Some complain that more than one forum was needed. [1] [2] On June 2, 2003, The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in a 3-2 vote, approved new media ownership laws that removed many of the restrictions previously imposed to limit ownership of media within a local area.The changes were not, as is customarily done, made available to the public for a comment period. Two commissioners requested this public comment period (the same two who voted against the changes) and their requests were denied without justification.The news coverage of this event in the mainstream press was very low-key. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent United States government agency, created, directed, and empowered by Congressional statute. ...
February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...
Downtown Richmond as seen from the James River Motto: Sic Itur Ad Astra (Such is the way to the Stars) Nickname: River City Location in Virginia Founded -Incorporated 1607 County Independent city Mayor Douglas Wilder Area - Total - Water 162. ...
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent United States government agency, created, directed, and empowered by Congressional statute. ...
A few of the points included:
- Single-company ownership of media in a given market is now permitted up to 45% (formerly 35%, up from 25% in 1996) of that market.
- Restrictions on newspaper and TV station ownership in the same market were removed.
- All TV channels, magazines, newspapers, cable, and internet services are now counted, weighted based on people's average tendency to find news on that medium. At the same time, whether a channel actually contains news is no longer considered in counting the percentage of a medium owned by one owner.
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- (Thus it is now possible for two companies to own all of a city's 2 newspapers, 3 local TV stations, 2 national TV networks, and 8 local radio stations, (up to 45% of the media each) so long as there are other companies owning the shopping channel, the discovery channel, and at least 10% of other non-news outlets.)
- Previous requirements for periodic review of license have been changed. Licenses are no longer reviewed for "public-interest" considerations.
More information on the new consolidation rules is available from the FCC website. In particular, there are press releases from the commissioners who voted for the changes, and from those who voted against them.
See also Freedom of speech is the right to freely say what one pleases, as well as the related right to hear what others have stated. ...
The propaganda model is a theory advanced by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky that seeks to explain the supposed systemic biases of the mass media in terms of structural economic causes. ...
Much of the worlds assets, particularly in the media industry, are concentrated in the hands of a small number of large corporations. ...
Media Ownership is a noun describing the phenomenon of the mass media being owned by a corporate or individual entity. ...
Australian media ownership is one of the most concentrated in the world. ...
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