Media

Conglomerate
Conglomerates?
• Conglomerate is a corporation that is made up of a number of
different, seemingly unrelated businesses. In a conglomerate,
one company owns a controlling stake in a number of smaller
companies, which conduct business separately
Media conglomerate

“A media conglomerate, media group, or media institution is a

company that owns numerous other companies involved in mass

Saad ul Azeem / 15-10189

media enterprises, such as television, radio, publishing, motion
pictures, theme parks, or the Internet etc.”
Why Conglomerates merge:
• There can be many reasons for firms to want to merge, the
very basic interests include increasing market share, synergy
and cross selling. Firms also merge to diversify and reduce
their risk exposure. However, if a conglomerate becomes too
large as a result of acquisitions, the performance of the entire
firm can suffer.
Media Conglomerates or concentration of ownership:

•In addition, powerful corporations also have enormous

influence on mainstream media.
•In some places major multinational corporations own media
stations and outlets.
•Often, many media institutions survive on advertising fees,
which can lead to the media outlet being influenced by various
corporate interests.
•Other times, the ownership interests may affect what is and is
not covered. Stories can end up being biased or omitted so as not
to offend advertisers or owners.
•The ability for citizens to make informed decisions is crucial for a
free and functioning democracy but now becomes threatened by
such concentration in ownership.
Example from Pakistan
• The Independent Media Corporation.
• It started with the publication of the Jang Group of
Newspapers and later added the Geo Network to its offerings.
The corporation holds monopoly in the print and electronic
media market with its revenues higher as compared to the
combined revenues of other media groups in Pakistan.
 Independent Media Corporation

• It started with the publication of the Jang Group of Newspapers and

later added the Geo Network to its offerings.
• The corporation holds monopoly in the print and electronic media
market with its revenues higher as compared to the combined
revenues of other media groups in Pakistan.
• Mir Khalil ur Rehman was the founder of the group and his son, Mir
Shakil ur-Rahman, is the present head of the
business house based in Karachi.
• IMC owns the Jang Group of Newspapers
and the Geo TV network.
Example from international media
In the 2020 Forbes Global 2000 list, AT&T was America's largest media
conglomerate, in terms of revenue, with Comcast, The Walt Disney Company,
& Viacom completing the top four.

By 2011, 90% of the United States's media was controlled by six media
conglomerates: GE/Comcast (NBC, Universal), News Corporation (Fox News,
Wall Street Journal, New York Post) Disney (ABC, ESPN, Pixar), Viacom (MTV,

Saad ul Azeem / 15-10189

BET, Paramount Pictures), Times Warner (CNN, HBO, Warner Bros.) and CBS
(Showtime, NFL.com).
Negative impact of
Conglomeration:
• profit becomes the main focus of corporate effort. Ivan Fecan,
CEO of CTV, says: “If we can’t make money, we have no
reason to exist.”
• Conglomeration of media also leads to reduced quality of
programs because they shift the interest of audiences to less
important news such as celebrity scandals.
• When celebrity Anna Nicole Smith died in 2007, cable news
net-works gave more coverage to her death than any other
important news such as war in Iraq (Baran 38).
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney is an American
diversified multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate
headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California.

Disney was originally founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt and Roy
O. Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; it also operated under the
names The Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before officially
changing its name to The Walt Disney Company in 1986. The company
established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before
diversifying into live-action film production, television, and theme parks.
Since the 1980s, Disney has created and acquired corporate divisions in
order to market more mature content than is typically associated with
its flagship family-oriented brands. The company is known for its film
studio division, The Walt Disney Studios, which includes Walt Disney
Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios,
Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, and Blue Sky
Studios. Disney's other main units and reporting segments are Disney
Media Networks, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, and Walt
Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International.
• Through these segments, Disney owns and operates the ABC broadcast
network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, Freeform,
FX, and National Geographic; publishing, merchandising, music, and theater
divisions; and Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, a group of 14 theme
parks around the world.

• The Cartoon character Mickey Mouse, created in 1928 by Walt Disney and
UbI werks, is one of the world's most recognizable characters and serves as
the company's official mascot.