During the 1980s, 50 companies owned 90% of the media. In 1992, that number shrunk to under 24 and in the present day there are just 6 companies. These six companies produce television, streaming services, and other similar products. Comcast is the largest of these conglomerates. They provide cable to more people than any other company in the word as well as provide internet for half of the population of America. Disney is the second largest conglomerate. They focus on original content, theme parks in addition to owning many big-name television networks. Twenty first Century Fox is the third largest, focusing mostly on movies and news shows. Time Warner is the next in line. This company was once that largest media company in the world. However, they lost billions after attempting to merge with America Online. After the failed merger, the company was forced to split in two: Time Warner and Time Warner Cable. Despite this the two companies still take up spots four and five on the list. CBC and Viacom went through a similar separation, yet they still come in to spots six and seven on the list. The number of companies on this short list can get confusing especially since half of them were once connected.
As all of this information can be overwhelming, let’s break it down. First, a conglomeration is one company that owns or is in multiple unrelated businesses. A merger is the action of two companies becoming one through legal means. Secondly, the limited number of companies offering the same services results in a high concentration. However, these companies do not depict a monopoly since there are multiple companies in control of the media instead of just one. To be a true monopoly, there can only be one ownership of the service. Monopolies are prevented with antitrust laws. These laws breakup “monopolies, [prevent] price fixing, or other forms of collusion”. Now why is having six large companies better that having just one in charge of the media? We may complain about the prices we have to pay for the TV and streaming services, but because there are six companies, there are six competitors. If one company had a monopoly, they could drive prices up and wouldn’t have to worry about the quality of their content and service. Then we would really complain. One famous example of a near monopoly in America is Standard Oils. John D. Rockefeller’s company was in control of up to 91% of oil production in the United States until the company was found in violation of the anti-trust laws subsequently broken up.
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https://www.therichest.com/business/companies-business/six-enormous-monopolies-past-and-present/
The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology
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