MEDIA CONGLOMERATES:THE FACTFILE

Written by ANURAG SAHOO

Media is the mirror of the society that we live in. But today, media is a MULTI-BILLION INDUSTRY. In this blog, we’ll discuss about the TOP 4 MEDIA CONGLOMERATES(collection of businesses) of the world.

We start with the 4th position. The winner of this position is VIACOM The name stands for video & audio communication. I have decided to directly provide the information. So, here it comes. Among its most prized possession are MTV NETWORKS,NICKELODEON,VHI,CBS NETWORKS, PARAMOUNT STUDIOS and its acquired DREAMWORKS STUDIO.

Let’s move to 3rd position. The bronze goes to NEWS CORPORATION. It is owned by Australian RUPERT MURDOCH. It owns the movie production major TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX and FOX SEARCHLIGHT. Along with it, NEWS CORPORATION also owns FOX CHANNEL, SKY CHANNEL, 20% of TATA SKY DTH, publishing house HARPER COLLINS( HC India is a JV between NEWS CORPORATION 40% and INDIA TODAY GROUP 60%). It owns STAR TV bouquet. It has acquired NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TELEVISION. In print segment, it has THE SUNDAY MAIL and fashion magazine VOGUE. It holds 20% of RADIO CITY, the top FM channel of India. In the website world, it has IGN, GAMESPY,ASK.COM to name a few.


The silver medal i.e 2nd position goes to TIME WARNER INC. It owns WARNER BROTHERS STUDIO, CABLE NEWS NETWORK(CNN), CARTOON NETWORK, HOME BOX OFFICE(HBO), AMERICAN ONLINE(AOL), WINAMP MEDIA PLAYER, NEW LINE CINEMA MOVIE PRODUCTION, DC COMICS(SUPERMAN, BATMAN). It is the result of a merger between TIME INC and WARNER BROTHERS. TIME INC. consists of renowed publications like TIME MAGAZINE(THE MOST POPULAR MAGAZINE OF THE WORLD), FORTUNE(THE MAKERS OF FORTUNE 500,1000 LISTS AND THE NO.1 BUSINESS MAGAZINE OF THE WORLD), MARIE CLAIRE and SPORTS ILLUSTRATED.

The pole position is taken by a company which many of us thought is merely into cartoon making and toy business i.e WALT DISNEY CORPORATIONS. Besides owning everything in this world which has the word DISNEY in it, it owns AMERICAN BROADCASTING CORPORATIONS(ABC), ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS PROGARMMING NETWORK(ESPN), WALT DISNEY PICTURES(makers of blockbuster like PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN),PIXAR(THE ANIMATION ARM OF DISNEY and makers of ICE AGE), MIRAMAX FILMS(makers of the classic PULP FICTION), DISNEY LAND- AMUSEMENT PARKS, RESORTS AND CRUISE LINERS. In India, Its biggest investment is 32% Stake in UTV SOFTWARE COMMUNICATIONS and its partnership with YASH RAJ FILMS for movie production and distribution.