We live in a society that is literally addicted to consuming media content. Unfortunately, control of that content is dominated by just a handful of ultra-powerful corporations. Back in 1983, the media industry was controlled by a group of about 50 large companies. Today, the media industry is controlled by just 6 gigantic corporations.
They own television networks, streaming services, cable channels, movie studios, newspapers, magazines, publishing houses, music labels and even many of our favorite websites. Sadly, most of us don’t ever stop to think about who is feeding us the endless hours of news, sports and entertainment that we constantly ingest. But we should. The truth is that each of us is tremendously influenced by the messages that are constantly being poured into our heads. We are addicted to the “programming”, and we just keep coming back for more. Most of us spend multiple hours each day consuming media content, and many of us actually begin to feel physically uncomfortable if we go too long without watching or listening to something.
The six corporations that collectively control the media industry are Disney, Time Warner, National Amusements, News Corporation, Comcast and Sony. Collectively, the “big six” absolutely dominate news and entertainment in the United States. If the “big six” were a country, they would have the 26th largest GDP in the world. But even those areas of the media that the “big six” do not completely control are becoming increasingly concentrated. For example, iHeartMedia now owns over 1,200 radio stations in the United States, and companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook are increasingly dominating the Internet.
When you control what Americans watch, hear and read, you acquire a great deal of influence over what they think.
The content that they produce for us is called “programming” for a reason.
The power to shape our culture is the power to alter the future of our society. We have witnessed seismic cultural shifts in recent decades, and the media industry has been the driving force behind many of those shifts.
These gigantic media conglomerates are much larger than most people realize. Below, I have listed just a sampling of some of the media properties that are owned and controlled by the “big six”…
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