The Multimedia Monopoly

This page is badly in need of updating. A complete redesign wouldn't hurt either. But I have tendonitis, so it won't happen for a while.

I have put up a page with some comments on and links about the AOL Time Warner deal. I've also removed broken links from this page. (1-17-00)

In 1982, Ben Bagdikian wrote The Media Monopoly, an examination of the growing concentration of media ownership. At the time, he calculated that 50 corporations controlled half or more of the media business. He predicted then that eventually this number would fall to about half a dozen companies. This was greeted with skepticism at the time. When the last edition of the Media Monopoly was published by Beacon in 1993, the number had fallen to 20. Since then, there have been more mergers. Within the last year, this trend has accelerated with the passage of the telecom bill and mergers between CapCities/ABC and Disney and CBS and Westinghouse.

This page contains links to stories and background on the concentration of media ownership. This is just a start. I'll be adding more links over the next few weeks. There are related stories on my page on Telecom reform. All of the NPR stories from All Things Considered and Morning Edition are in Real Audio format . You can get a free Real Audio player for Macs and PCs.

The Media Monopoly

• The June 3, 1996 issue of the Nation focuses on this issue. Mark Crispin Miller's cover story and a sidebar. The issue contains charts by Mark Crispin Miller of the holdings of four major media corporations.
• Bagdikian interview for Smoke In the Eye, an 4-2-96 Frontline on tobacco and the media. (a movie, The Insider, based on these events was released in 1999).
• The 50, 26, 20... Corporations That Own Our Media by Ben Bagdikian originally published in the June 1987 Extra! (the magazine of FAIR). It was reprinted in the Best of Extra!. There are a number of related articles in the Owners & Sponsors section.

  I'll soon post a 1993 interview I did with Bagdikian. The former Washington Post editor and Dean of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism has a new book out from Beacon, Double Vision.

  • President Clinton has stepped up his criticism of legislation aimed at easing regulation of the telecommunications industry. The President threatened to veto the legilation unless language that "promotes mergers and concentrates power" is deleted. Phillip Davis reports. (3:00) All Things Considered 8-1-95 (real audio no longer available)
  • Linda Wertheimer talks with Richard Rosen and Jeffrey Chester about media consolidation, in particular Disney Corporation's purchase of Capital Cities' ABC network. Rosen is an anti-trust lawyer who used to work in the telecommunications division of the Justice Department under President Clinton. Rosen believes the Disney/ABC deal is benign. Chester is the executive director of the Center for Media Education. He says Disney's purchase of ABC will significantly reduce consumer access to and choice in television programming. (6:00) ATC 8-1-95 (real audio no longer available)
  • Between The Lines -- Merger Mania in the Media by Pat Holt, San Francisco Chronicle 9-3-95 (Holt has since left the Chronicle where she edited their book review and now writes Holt Uncesored an email newsletter on independent bookstores and publishers)

  msNBC

  Disney Cap Cities/ABC Merger

  • Another media giant, another bad deal for the public by Marc Gunther 8-1-95 Detroit Journal (the web pub of the striking reporters in Detroit which no longer seems to be online - Gunther now works for Fortune magazine)
  • Easy As ABC by Nancy Gibbs Time 8-14-95 (You need a free subscription to Pathfinder to access this)
  • It's Networking Time by Elizabeth Gleick Time 8-14-95
  • ABC Would Open New Worlds to Disney by John Carmen San Francisco Chronicle 8-1-95 A good, critical column on the impact of Disney taking over ABC.
  • Why? Because We Own You - ABC may change a little under Disney by John Carmen, SF Chronicle 8-2-95
  • Disney's Stunning Deal to Buy ABC - Biggest media firm in world would emerge, SF Chronicle 8-1-95
  • Disney megadeal: slather on the hype by Joyce Millman SF Examiner 8-1-95
  • A three story All Things Considered package on the merger from 7-31. Full descriptions of the stories are available (but the audio doesn't work anymore).
  • Jim Zarroli reports on the proposed merger between Disney and Capital-Cities/ABC... a deal that's worth 19 billion dollars, and make Disney the largest entertainment empire. (4:30) Morning Edition 8-1-95
  • Host Martha Raddatz discusses the Disney-ABC merger with Eli Noam, Director of the Institute for Tele-information at Columbia University. They talk about the possible benefits to both companies and the implications for the telecommunications industry. (4:10) Morning Edition 8-1-95
  • The price that Disney will pay for Capital Cities/ABC is roughly four times what Westinghouse offered for CBS. Not so long ago the two networks might have fetched similar prices, But as Jim Zarroli reports different management styles and strategies yielded very different results. (5:00) ATC 8-3-95

  CBS Westinghouse Merger

  • Westinghouse Electric Corporation has scheduled a late afternoon news conference where it is expected to announce a deal to acquire CBS for about $5 billion. It would be the second buyout of a television network this week...Disney announced that it was buying Cap Cities/ABC yesterday. Trading in the shares of both companies was halted earlier today in anticipation of the announcment. Jim Zarroli reports. (3:30) All Things Considered 8-1-95

  Turner

  • Turner desperately desires a major TV network By JimMcFarlin 7-30-95 Detroit Journal
  • Review of Citizen Turner in the August 14, 1995 issue of Utne Lens.

    News Corp/Fox

    All Things Considered did a special series this week on Rupert Murdoch and his empire.
    • Michael Goldfarb reports on the always expanding media empire of Rupert Murdoch. From the tabloids of London, to Star TV in Asia, to the Fox Network in the U.S., Murdoch's News Corporation shakes things up wherever it goes. Tonight we begin a series of pieces with a look at how Murdoch has changed journalism and shaped politics in Britain. (12:30) All Things Considered 7-31-95
    • Media magnate Rupert Murdoch was in Washinton today to testify before the House Ethics Committee about his relationship with House Speaker Newt Gincrich. In part two of a series of reports on Rupert Murdoch's media emprie, Peter Overby examines how Murdoch operates in Washington. (9:00) ATC 8-1-95
    • Eric Weiner reports on Rupert Murdoch's media empire in Asia. The media giant owns Star T.V. - a satellite broadcast network that reaches almost 2 hundred million viewers in Asia. In this report from India, we hear from some who are offended by the network, which broadcasts American Soap operas...

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