Six Firms That Control American Media

Six giant media corporations control most of what Americans watch, read and hear.  These business behemoths produce more than 90 percent of all news and entertainment available in the United States. As a result, consumers are left with the illusion of choice instead of real alternatives.

As recently as 1983, roughly 90 percent of the American media was owned by 50 companies. In the intervening years, waves of mergers and acquisitions have produced a near monopoly. Meanwhile, federal regulators napped through the sea change without raising an eyebrow.

The mammoth media and entertainment firms are: Comcast, Walt Disney Company, 21st Century Fox, Time Warner, Viacom and CBS Corporation.  The companies' annual revenues collectively are more than $100 billion.   Total market capitalization for the firms is about $500 billion.

These jumbo corporations own NBC, Telemundo, Universal Pictures, ABC, ESPN, Fox, DreamWorks Animation, CNN, HBO, Cinemax, CBS, Showtime, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, TNT and Warner Brothers Pictures, to mention just a few assets.

There is not enough room in this space to list every media and entertainment company the six own. Included in the asset mix are magazines, book publishers, children's television channels, amusement parks, professional sports teams, websites, radio stations and music production companies.

The concentration of power is unprecedented.  You wind up with about 300 executives at six Herculean conglomerates making all the decisions about the information and entertainment that influences many Americans' political and social attitudes.

Having such a monopoly clustered in relatively few hands might not be bad if they acted and reported independently.  The reality is that the six march in lockstep with each other, particularly when it comes to political agenda.  Fox may be the lone exception, but be advised to reserve judgement.

Research reveals the political action committees and corporate executives at the super-sized six favor Democratic candidates and their positions.  Comcast Corporation, perhaps the most politically active of the bunch, has been a regular contributor to both the Clinton Foundation and Hillary Clinton.

Comcast, which owns NBC and the Spanish language network Telemundo, has dished out more than $31 million in political contributions since 1990, including $7 million in 2016.  The size of its political largess dwarfs the other five members of the Big Six Club.

Time Warner, which owns CNN and HBO, doled out $2.3 million in 2016 in political donations, almost exclusively to Democrats.  The company padded Ms. Clinton's campaign coffers with $550,000 and raised $2.2 million for Barrack Obama's two campaigns.

CBS and Disney hand out political donations through their Political Action Committees (PAC).  Both are spendthrifts compared to Time Warner and Comcast, each totaling about $200,000 in donations. A review of their reports reveals both have overwhelmingly favored Democrats over Republicans.

The surprise of the lot is 21st Century Fox.  James Murdoch, the chief operating officer of the enterprise, has contributed between $1 million and $5 million to the Clinton Foundation. However, in the most recent election cycle the Fox PAC spent $325,000, with the GOP getting 55 percent.

(As a side note, James and brother Lachlan Murdoch will one day inherit the mantle of leadership at Fox when their 84-year old father Rupert steps down.  The brothers are far more liberal than Rupert and some analysts are predicting Fox News will join the Democrat echo chamber in the media.)

For the record, the contribution figures cited above were reported by the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan, independent non-profit that collects and disseminates information on the influence of money on politics and national policy.  The center also tracks companies' lobbying costs.

Each one of the elephantine outfits has influential lobbying organizations which actively exert pressure on Congress and the executive branch.

The Samson Six have logged nearly $500 million in lobbying expenses since 1990.  Comcast is the biggest spender, reporting $167 million in lobby costs during that time frame.  Since 2009, Time Warner has ponied up $80 million to lobby in Washington.

This toxic mix of media and political cash should concern Americans worried about unbiased news reporting.  Media businesses have the same right as other firms to be involved in the political process. Nonetheless, their activities still raise questions about political advocacy prejudicing media decisions.