MC Academy, Kolkata

Media Ownership

The media that exists in our Country is heavily influenced by the ownership form
it takes. There are a number of factors – such as content distribution, profits etc.
There exist some very basic ownership Patterns.

Individual Ownership Pattern – In this kind of partnership, the Individual has

control, which allows him to take decisions for the company. Therefore, he takes
responsibility for all the Policy – making decisions and is also accountable for
them. It is best suited for small-scale media houses, be it newspaper or news
channel. An example of this is the Local Evening Newspapers that usually follow
this kind of ownership control. The News Today is a daily English Newspaper
that is printed out of Chennai. It covers news, politics, economy and travel.

[Advantages] In this kind of ownership, power comes in the form of individual

and absolute control, which gives the person more secrecy in options. Along
with it, the individual can make decisions at his own pace (which is usually fast)
and is naturally more connected with the content and the newspaper.

[Disadvantages] However, the secrecy stops the employees from any kind of
democratic participation. The owner becomes liable for the debts and losses and
the rate of success depends entirely on his ability. There is less scope for
expansion and unlimited responsibility.

Partnership Ownership Pattern - As per the Partnership act 1932, Partnership

is defined as ‘the relationship between persons who have agreed to share profits
of a business carried on by all or any of them acting for all. The minimum limit is
2 partners while the maximum is set to 20 partners. There are 2 kinds of
partnership – General and Limited. In India, Red Chilies Entertainment is an
example of Partnership. It is a motion picture production and distribution
company, it is headed by Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan and operates under
various divisions like Film Production, VFX, Television shows, TVC production
and the IPL Team, KKR. Sanjiv Chawla is the executive producer while SRK and
Gauri are the chairman and chairwoman respectively. Venky Mysore took over
the CEO a few years back.

[Advantages] In this kind of partnership, responsibility, maintenance and

operation cost can be divided. People with different talents come together and
pitch in their ideas and solutions which helps in the growth of the company and
also sets a democratic environment for all.
[Disadvantages] In a partnership, selfish motives of a partner might harm the
firm. Lack of unity and misunderstandings might lead to losses after which each
partner will have to incur and pay back his share of debt. Also, there are chances
of a partnership/ business getting discontinued after the death of any partner.

Corporation – It is the one of the most common forms of ownership pattern.

The minimum numbers that can be a part of it are 5. It is an association of
individuals under the authority of the law, which has a continuous existence
independent of the existence of its members and powers and liabilities distinct
of its members. The BBC group is an example of a corporation. They are spread
across web portals, television and radio. Increasing capital can easily expand
operations and transfer of control is flexible. However, cooperation taxes are
imposed

Group/ Chain Ownership – This form of ownership is when two or ore same
mediums are handled by the same organization. They are formed without a
common holding but with a chain of command. Hindustan has 13 editions that
are printed in Hindu, under HT Media. Aaj Tak and Headlines Today are two
different channels but are held under the same organization i.e. India Today
group. The advantages of this kind of partnership are that financial,
administrative and human resources can be centrally managed. Because of this
cost of production becomes low due to best possible utilization of resources –
this adds to better training, work environment and more facilities being
provided. However, permanence of management is always in question because
management is divided.

Employee Ownership Pattern - In this form of Partnership, employees own a

major part of the share. They are also responsible for the decision- making. E.g.:
Community Media like the Bangalore based advocacy group VOICES organized a
gathering of community radio stakeholders. During the inception 1996, a group
of radio broadcasters, policy planners, media professionals, and non-profit
groups joined hands to study how community radio could be relevant to India
and what policies were needed. They wanted All India Radio to allocate an hour
of airtime each day to community broadcasting.
[Advantages] In this, Employee issues can be solved faster and it becomes
easier to break interdepartmental barriers. Also, the sense of ownership that
the employees own helps the organization to grow faster.
[Disadvantages] However, it gets difficult to induct new people and employees
tend to get more preference than the benefit of the organization. It also
becomes difficult to take quick decisions.

Vertical Ownership Pattern- In this, an organization owns or operates different

media enterprises or some other enterprise under the same ownership. E.g:
India Today Group, Living Media or Big Media-Reliance group. The India Today
Group has Mail Today, Business Today, Aaj Tak and Headlines Today under itself
– making it a combination of magazines, newspapers and TV Channels, yet they
still fall under the same ownership i.e., the India Today Group.
[Advantages] It helps to promote different enterprises at the same time and
reduced general expenses but
[Disadvantages] in this management may not be able to devote sufficient time
to any one particular media. Also, since the capital is invested in all media forms,
a particular media form might not get the attention that it ought to.

Cross Media Ownership

Cross media ownership is when the same company owns several along with
newspaper, magazines, musical labels, and publishers and so on. cross-media
ownership across the various carriers such as television, radio or print;
consolidation, including vertical integration among media operations of content,
carrier and distributor within a media segment such as television or radio; and
market share dominance in a given geography within each media segment.

Prevalent Ownership Pattern - The 3 types of prevalent ownership patterns

are Conglomerate, Company and Trust.

1. Conglomerate ownership Pattern – It is a combination of two or more

companies engaged in different business that fall under one corporate
structure. A Media Conglomerate is a multi-industry company that owns a large
number of companies in various media such as TV, Radio, and Internet etc.
Examples are Viacom, Living Media Ltd., The Walt Disney Company, Bennett
Coleman & Co. Ltd. Etc. Viacom is the fourth largest conglomerate in the World
after the Walt Disney, News Corporation and Time Warner. Viacom has its assets
in Nickelodeon, Paramount pictures, MTV, Comedy Central, VH1 etc. Reliance
Industries Limited are also an example of one of the most famous conglomerates
in India.

[Advantages] – The Diversification results in reduction of investment risk and

creates an internal capital market. Also, the downturn suffered by one
subsidiary can be counterbalanced by another.
[Disadvantages] However a lack of focus and culture clashes can destroy the
value. This form tends to have extra layers of management, which increases the
cost.

2. Company Ownership Pattern - In this type of ownership, the company owns

the media. The same company tends to have listed shares in the share market.
For eg: HT media has shares in BSE, NSE, KK Birla Group has 69% stake in HT
Media, HT manages newspaper, radio etc. similarly, Reliance has a stake in
GBN(Global Broadcast News) which operates the English channel CNN-IBN and
Hindi channel IBN7.

3. Trust ownership Pattern - A trust is a relationship whereby property (real or

personal, tangible or intangible) is held by one party for the benefit of another.
An example of this is the The Tribune Trust. It was founded on 2nd February
1881 by Mr. Sardar Singh Majithia and is run by a trust comprising of 5 trustees.
It enjoys worldwide circulation and publishes 2 other newspapers also – The
Punjabi Tribune and Dainik Tribune. This kind of partnership focus more on
welfare and not on profit making. Advantages of this ownership pattern are that
it focuses on real news rather than sensationalizing it. There are also not too
many people which result in lesser clashes and more harmony. However, they
might face a shortage of funds. Sometimes, it also takes time to reach the
masses, as they don’t indulge in promotional activities.

These ownership patterns decide the business models, profit engagement and
the content produced and distributed by the Media. Financial flows, recovery
of costs for creating, assembling and presenting the product are all determined
by their outcomes.