Capitalism And Monopolies: How Five Companies Control All US Media

Summary

This video delves into the alarming concentration of American media in the hands of five mega-corporations: Comcast, Disney, National Amusements, News Corp, and AT&T. It details how these entities, worth over $400 billion, control approximately 90% of U.S. media, influencing news, entertainment, and public opinion. The script explores the historical context, including the 1996 Telecommunications Act's role in this consolidation, and the implications for diversity in media and societal issues. It also touches on the rise of platforms like Nebula, created by YouTubers to offer an alternative to corporate media control.

Takeaways

• 😲 The majority of US media is controlled by just five mega corporations: Comcast, Disney, National Amusements, News Corp, and AT&T.
• 📺 These corporations own a vast array of media outlets, including news networks, movie studios, and print publications, reaching nearly every US household.
• 💵 The 'Big Five' are worth over $400 billion and control approximately 90% of all US media, illustrating a significant concentration of wealth and power.
• 🚫 Despite the potential for monopolistic control, these corporations technically avoid being classified as a monopoly due to the presence of the other four.
• 🤔 The consolidation of media ownership can limit diversity in viewpoints and stifle competition, as smaller operations struggle to succeed against these giants.
• 📉 The number of media companies controlling the US media has shrunk dramatically from 50 in the early 1980s to just five today.
• 📚 The 1996 Telecommunications Act played a pivotal role in deregulating the market, leading to the rapid consolidation of media power.
• 🌐 The influence of these corporations extends beyond traditional media to include online platforms and digital content.
• 🔍 The script highlights the importance of alternative platforms like Nebula and CuriosityStream, which offer content outside the influence of the 'Big Five'.
• 🌐 The trend of media consolidation is not isolated to the US but is a growing concern in various sectors and markets worldwide.

Q & A

What are the five mega corporations that control the majority of the U.S. media?

The five mega corporations that control the majority of the U.S. media are Comcast, Disney, National Amusements, News Corp, and AT&T.

How has the number of media companies controlling the bulk of U.S. media changed since the 1980s?

Since the early 1980s, the number of media companies controlling the bulk of U.S. media has shrunk from 50 to just five.

What is the significance of the 1996 Telecommunications Act in the context of media consolidation?

The 1996 Telecommunications Act was intended to deregulate the broadcast and telecommunications markets, but it led to the rapid consolidation of power in the hands of fewer and fewer massive corporations.

What is an oligopoly and how does it relate to the U.S. media landscape?

An oligopoly is a market structure where a few powerful groups control the entire market. In the U.S. media landscape, the term 'oligopoly' describes the situation where a handful of corporations, known as the 'big five,' control the majority of media outlets, effectively acting as a monopoly in all but the legal sense.

Which company owns a diverse range of media operations such as CBS, MTV, and Paramount?

National Amusements owns a diverse range of media operations including CBS, MTV, Paramount, Nickelodeon, and BET.

What is the role of curiositystream in relation to the video's content?

Curiositystream is an online streaming service that partners with the video creator to offer educational content. It is mentioned as part of a promotional deal where signing up for curiositystream also grants access to the streaming service Nebula.

How does the consolidation of media affect smaller operations and the diversity of content?

The consolidation of media in the hands of a few corporations can limit the success of smaller operations and reduce the diversity of content, as it becomes harder for new entrants to compete and gain visibility.

What is the impact of media consolidation on public policy and societal issues?

Media consolidation can lead to a reinforcement of the status quo, with major news networks owned by the same interests, potentially peddling minor disagreements while diverting attention away from serious societal problems.

Which company is known for owning a wide range of media properties including NBC, MSNBC, and Universal Pictures?

Comcast is known for owning a wide range of media properties including NBC, MSNBC, USA Network, and Universal Pictures.

How does the video script describe the current state of media consolidation in the U.S.?

The video script describes the current state of media consolidation in the U.S. as a situation where a few ultra-powerful companies control the majority of media, creating an oligopoly that limits competition and diversity in the media landscape.

What is the significance of the Nebula streaming service mentioned in the script?

Nebula is a streaming service built by and for content creators as an alternative to platforms that may demonetize their work. It is partnered with CuriosityStream to offer ad-free content and support creators financially.

Outlines

00:00

📺 Media Monopoly: The Big Five

This paragraph introduces the concept of media consolidation, where a few major corporations control a vast majority of the media landscape. It highlights that companies like Disney, Comcast, and others own numerous media outlets, which may seem unrelated but are part of larger corporate entities. The paragraph discusses the historical reduction in the number of media companies from 50 to just five, leading to near monopolies that barely avoid anti-trust law enforcement. It emphasizes the influence of these corporations on public policy due to their wealth and the potential for these media giants to shape public opinion through their control of information.

05:01

🌐 The Extent of Media Control by the Big Five

This paragraph delves into the specific media assets owned by the 'Big Five' corporations: News Corp, National Amusements, AT&T, Comcast, and Disney. It provides examples of the diverse media operations under each corporation's umbrella, from news networks and sports channels to movie studios and publishing houses. The paragraph underscores the sheer scale of media control these companies wield, reaching nearly every household in the U.S. It also touches on the concept of an oligopoly, where power is concentrated among a few entities, and how this leads to a lack of true competition and diversity in media. The paragraph concludes by discussing the implications of this media consolidation, including the reinforcement of the status quo and the potential for these corporations to avoid anti-trust issues through strategic acquisitions and mergers.

Keywords

💡Consolidation

Consolidation refers to the process where a number of businesses in the same industry combine to form a single, larger entity. In the context of the video, consolidation is used to describe how the American media landscape has evolved from being controlled by many companies to being dominated by just a few mega corporations. This has resulted in a significant reduction in the diversity of media ownership, as illustrated by the shrinking number of media companies from 50 to five.

💡Media Outlets

Media outlets are organizations that communicate news, information, and entertainment to the public through various channels such as television, radio, newspapers, and the internet. The video discusses how major media outlets like Vice, ESPN, and the History Channel, despite their different target audiences, are all owned by the same company, Disney. This highlights the extent of media consolidation and its impact on content diversity.

💡Mega Corporations

Mega corporations are extremely large corporations that have significant economic influence and control over various industries. In the video, mega corporations like Disney, Comcast, and AT&T are identified as the primary owners of the majority of U.S. media, indicating a high level of concentration of media ownership in the hands of a few powerful entities.

💡Monopolies

A monopoly is a market condition in which one company has complete control over the supply of a particular good or service. The video explains that while no single company has a monopoly over the entire U.S. media market, the concentration of media ownership among a few corporations effectively gives them monopolistic power, as they control a significant share of the media landscape.

💡Oligopoly

An oligopoly is a market structure in which a few large companies dominate the market, often leading to similar outcomes as a monopoly. The video describes the U.S. media landscape as an oligopoly, where the 'big five' corporations control the majority of media, leading to a lack of competition and potentially limiting the diversity of viewpoints and content available to the public.

💡Telecommunications Act of 1996

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was legislation intended to deregulate the telecommunications industry, allowing for more competition and innovation. However, as explained in the video, the actual outcome was the rapid consolidation of media power into fewer hands, leading to the current state of media ownership concentration.

💡National Amusements

National Amusements is a holding company that owns various media properties, including CBS and Viacom. The video points out that despite its bland name and lack of public-facing operations, National Amusements is a significant player in the media industry, controlling a wide range of media outlets and shaping the content that the public consumes.

💡News Corp

News Corp is a global media conglomerate that owns a variety of media outlets, including Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and HarperCollins. The video highlights News Corp as an example of a corporation with extensive media holdings, which contributes to the overall concentration of media ownership.

💡Comcast

Comcast is a telecommunications conglomerate that owns numerous media properties, such as NBC, MSNBC, and Universal Pictures. The video discusses Comcast as one of the 'big five' corporations that control a significant portion of the U.S. media, influencing the content and narratives presented to the public.

💡Disney

Disney is a multinational entertainment conglomerate known for its theme parks, films, and television networks. The video notes Disney's high-profile acquisitions, such as Marvel and Lucasfilm, as part of its strategy to expand its media empire, which contributes to the overall trend of media consolidation.

💡Anti-trust Laws

Anti-trust laws are designed to promote fair competition by preventing the formation of monopolies and the abuse of market power. The video suggests that the current media landscape, dominated by a few corporations, is operating just within the limits of these laws, yet effectively monopolizes the media market by controlling a vast majority of media outlets.

Highlights

Disney, Vice, ESPN, and the History Channel are all owned by the same company, Disney.

Comcast owns media outlets like NBC, MSNBC, and USA Network.

The number of media companies controlling the bulk of US media has shrunk from 50 to just five since the 1980s.

National Amusements, News Corp, and AT&T are among the 'big five' media corporations.

These five corporations are worth over 400 billion dollars and control about 90% of all U.S. media.

The remaining 10% of U.S. media is owned by slightly smaller corporations like Sinclair.

The consolidation of media power is not considered a monopoly but an oligopoly.

The 1996 Telecommunications Act led to rapid consolidation of media power in fewer corporations.

News Corp owns Fox, The Wall Street Journal, and HarperCollins Publishing, among others.

National Amusements owns CBS, Paramount, Nickelodeon, MTV, and more.

AT&T owns CNN, HBO, Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and DC, post-Time Warner acquisition.

Comcast owns NBC, MSNBC, USA Network, and Universal Pictures.

Disney owns ABC, Pixar, ESPN, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and a significant part of the comic book industry.

Netflix, while not owned by the 'big five', is partially owned by large interests like Blackrock.

The illusion of choice in media is prevalent, with most networks owned by the 'big five'.

The corporate media landscape is part of a larger trend of market consolidation in the U.S.

The threat of monopolization in various sectors of modern life is real and could have far-reaching consequences.

CuriosityStream is partnered with Nebula, offering educational content and financial security for creators.

Transcripts

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[Music]

vice espn and the history channel what

do these three media outlets have in

common

despite their different target audiences

they're all owned by the same company

disney what about these three same story

they're all owned by comcast if you were

to pick a bunch of media operations from

a hat

odds are the vast majority of them are

owned and operated by one of just five

mega corporations

since the early 1980s the number of

media companies controlling the bulk of

us media has shrunk from 50 to just

five we've gone from a media landscape

operated by a reasonable number of

controlling interests to a reality

dominated by near monopolies

just barely sneaking under the

enforcement of anti-trust laws

in this episode we're going to talk

about the consolidation of american

media in the hands of a few

ultra powerful companies and what that

means in a time when the very wealthy

have outsized influence over public

policy

before we begin it's worth noting that

corporate deals acquisitions and mergers

happen all the time

often with little to no coverage it's

quite possible that by the time you

watch this video

some of these data points will have

changed but unless something truly

cataclysmic happens the vast majority of

us media will still be under the thumb

of one or more of the five super

corporations we're about to discuss

so without further ado let's meet the

big five comcast

disney national amusements news corp and

at t

taking the spot from time warner which

it acquired in 2018 for 109 billion

dollars

you probably guessed that disney was on

the list since they've had some

seriously high profile

acquisitions in recent years most

notably marvel and lucasfilm

but i'd be surprised if you've ever

heard of national amusements or news

corp

these incredibly bland names and their

lack of public-facing operations are

intentional

why draw attention to yourself as one of

a tiny number of corporate behemoths

when people only care about a select few

of your properties

whether you're watching cbs news

scrolling through gamespot or reading a

book published by simon

schuster you're patting the enormous

wallet of national amusements

and you'd never suspect that these three

very different operations are run by the

same company

the same goes for news corp they own

national geographic fox news and

harpercollins

altogether the big five are worth over

400 billion dollars

controlling something like 90 percent of

all u.s media including news networks

hollywood movie studios and print

publications

and they reach nearly 100 of all u.s

households

and fun fact much of the remaining 10 is

owned by only slightly less giant

multi-billion dollar corporations like

sinclair

which as you may remember got itself

into hot water by blasting out a

propaganda broadcast over hundreds of

local us news channels

so how exactly are they allowed to do

this surely having just five companies

dominate the nation's media is

considered monopolizing right

well no but just barely let's look at

what it takes to be considered a

monopoly

in order to be considered a pure

monopoly a single company has to have

complete control over a market

containing a good or service with no

close substitutes

so there you go since there are five

large corporations that share the us

media market

none of them qualify as a monopoly but

you don't have to be classified as a

pure monopoly in order to wield

monopolistic power with such a massive

concentration of wealth and power in the

hands of so few

it all but ensures that smaller

operations never have the chance to

succeed

unless you count the very american

concept of success which is building a

company just large enough to get bought

out by one of the big players

what we see in the u.s media landscape

is more of an oligopoly

complete control spread across just a

handful of powerful groups

there's so much interplay and

deal-making within these five

mega-corporations that in effect they

are a monopoly in every sense but the

legal one for example

it's not uncommon to see one of the big

five hold a massive stake in a property

owned by another of the big five

but if there were so many more media

corporations as recently as the 1980s

how did we get to the dystopian

all-powerful corporate landscape we see

today

to make a long story short it all boils

down to the passing of the 1996

telecommunications act

this piece of legislation was supposedly

intended to deregulate the increasingly

tangled broadcast and telecommunications

markets

allowing anyone to enter and compete in

the industry whatever the intended

result was

the actual outcome was simply the rapid

consolidation of power in the hands of

fewer and fewer massive corporations

in the 2003 edition of howard zinn's a

people's history of the united states he

notes

the telecommunications act of 1996

enabled the handful of corporations

dominating the airwaves to expand their

power further

mergers enabled tighter control of

information he was right

and it only got worse the decade before

the telecommunications act

50 companies controlled the majority of

the media landscape by 1992

that number had fallen by 50 percent and

after the passage of the new tv and

broadcast legislation the number quickly

shrank even further

to just six in the year 2000 and that's

roughly where it stayed to this day not

because these giant companies wouldn't

love to own more of the market

but because they physically can't

without triggering anti-trust lawsuits

to put in perspective just how much of

the market the big five control

let's have a look at some of the media

operations they own we'll start with

news corp

rupert murdoch's empire owns fox

including all of its branches like fox

sports and 20th century fox

it owns fx gq the wall street journal

sky

news harpercollins publishing the new

york post national geographic

zondervan market watch and countless

others national amusements owns cbs and

its branches it owns paramount

nickelodeon

mtv bet gamespot vh1

comedy central the smithsonian channel

spike showtime simon schuster game faqs

cnet and viacom once a major player in

the media world itself before being

consumed

a t the newest member of the big five

after acquiring the massive time warner

controls cnn hbo cartoon network warner

brothers

dc tbs truetv cinemax tnt

adult swim part of hulu turner classic

movies time magazine

rocksteady games and time warner cable

to name just a few

comcast which has a well-deserved

reputation as a thoroughly evil

corporation

owns nbc msnbc usa network

sci-fi fandango universal pictures focus

features

working title films rotten tomatoes

bravo oxygen big idea part of hulu

mlb network nhl network and dozens of

internet ventures

and finally everyone's favorite

family-friendly corporate overlord

disney disney owns abc pixar

dreamworks espn lifetime the history

channel

marvel lucasfilm hollywood records

touchstone pictures

vice plus a giant swath of the comic

book industry thanks to their

acquisition of marvel

and of course these are only a small

sample of the media operations owned by

the big five

odds are if you can think of a network

you watch you'll find it's owned by one

of them the one main exception you may

have noticed is netflix

netflix while not outright owned by any

of the big five

is owned in part by a number of large

interests some of them very shady like

the well-known blackrock the world's

largest shadow bank

so really no matter what your network

preferences you're only being offered

the illusion of choice

in reality almost everything we watch or

read whether on tv

online in theaters or on the pages of a

book newspaper or magazine

is just a tentacle of the enormous

kraken that is the corporate media

landscape

no matter what perspectives these

outlets offer remember that they're all

owned by the same ultra wealthy business

interests

and they have their own agenda the big

five own all the major news networks and

the messages they put out are designed

to reinforce the status quo

peddling minor aesthetic disagreements

and diverting attention away from

serious societal problems

this is simply the natural conclusion of

the hyper-capitalist system we have in

the united states

powerful companies will grow larger and

larger consuming smaller companies that

can't compete

acquiring more and more properties until

they've reached the very limit of what

could be considered legal

thereby dodging anti-trust laws and

maintaining the maximum amount of power

profit and cultural significance and

this is only one area of the american

market

every other aspect of american life is

becoming similarly consolidated from

pharmaceuticals to energy to

manufacturing

the threat of the monopolization of

every area of modern life is real

and its consequences could be disastrous

and far-reaching

except for those pulling the strings at

the very top

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