3 Companies Own Almost 2/3 Of Most Popular TV Stations

[Zorra]

Does anyone wonder why Dem convention is not getting coverage, and why the talking heads consistently trash Democrats and love Bu$h?

Ownership of our favorite television channels:

According to the Federal Communications Commission, as of September 2000, there were a total of 1,663 television licenses (and 12,717 radio licenses). The major networks all have their own television station groups which own TV stations in major markets. For instance, A.B.C. owns 10 TV stations covering 24% of the nation. This is only owned stations and does not include the affiliated A.B.C. television stations. News Corporation, through Fox, operates 35 television stations. Viacom owns 39 TV stations and its CBS television network has over 200 affiliates. General Electric through its National Broadcasting Company (N.B.C.) operates 14 TV stations and the network has more than 220 affiliates.

Of the hundreds of channels available through cable and satellite, the major cable channels and broadcast networks are owned by a handful of companies. Let's take a look some of the most popular channels and which companies own them.

Which companies control what channels you get?

The six major broadcast networks are owned by five media conglomerates. Of those five companies, three control many of the most popular cable TV channels. Comcast is the largest cable provider and does not own much in the way of "content" but does control access to more than 20 million homes. Time Warner owns the next largest cable company, Time Warner Cable, and owns 9 (including the ownership of the W.B. broadcast network) of the 49 most popular channels. Viacom owns 13 (including its ownership of CBS and U.P.N.) of the 49 channels. Walt Disney Company owns or has interest in 9 (including A.B.C. and stakes in A&E Networks) of the 49 channels listed above. Count it up and these three companies own 31 of the 49 most popular television channels. To put it another way: just three companies control almost two-thirds (63%) of our favorite TV channels.

More detailed information is available at Columbia Journalism Review.

Broadcast Networks: (The information listed below is believed to be accurate and is current as of October 8, 2003)
A.B.C. Television Network Walt Disney Company
CBS Television Network Viacom5
N.B.C. Television Network General Electric Company
Fox Television Network News Corporation
U.P.N. Television Network Viacom5
W.B. Television Network Time Warner

Popular Cable Channels: (The information listed below is believed to be accurate and is current as of October 8, 2003)

A.B.C. Family Channel Walt Disney Company
American Movie Classics Rainbow Media (Cablevision Systems and General Electric through NBC Universal3)
Animal Planet Discovery Communications, L.L.C.1
Arts and Entertainment (A&E) A&E Television Networks4 (Disney, G.E., and Hearst)
Black Entertainment Television Viacom5
Bravo General Electric Company (through NBC Universal 3)
Cartoon Network Time Warner
CNBC General Electric Company (through NBC Universal3)
C.N.N. Time Warner
C.N.N.fn Time Warner
C.N.N./Sports Illustrated Time Warner
Comedy Central Viacom5 (50% venture with Time Warner ended May 2003)
Country Music Television Viacom5
Discovery Channel Discovery Communications, L.L.C.1
Disney Channel Walt Disney Company
E! Entertainment Television Comcast (40%) Walt Disney (39.6%), Liberty Media (10%),
Encore Move Channel Liberty Media Corporation6
E.S.P.N. Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Corporation (20%)
Fox News Channel News Corporation
FX Channel News Corporation
Home Box Office (H.B.O.) Time Warner
Headline News (C.N.N.) Time Warner
History Channel A&E Television Networks4 (Disney, G.E., and Hearst)
Home Shopping Network IAC/InterActive Corp (19% owned by Liberty Media Corp.6)
Learning Channel Discovery Communications, L.L.C.1
Lifetime Walt Disney Co. through A.B.C.2 and Hearst Corporation
Movie Channel Viacom5
MSNBC General Electric through NBC Universal3 and Microsoft
M.T.V.: Music Television Viacom5
Nickelodeon/Nick at Night Viacom5
Noggin Viacom5
QVC Liberty Media Corporation6 (98%)
Sci-Fi Channel General Electric Company ( through NBC Universal 3)
Showtime Movie Channel Viacom5
Spike TV Viacom5
Starz Movie Channel Liberty Media Corporation6
T.B.S. Time Warner
T.N.T. Time Warner
Toon Disney Walt Disney Company
Travel Channel Discovery Communications, L.L.C.1
TV Land Viacom5
USA Network General Electric Company (through NBC Universal 3)
VH-1 Viacom5

http://www.signalalpha.com/who_owns_what.htm

This oligopoly must be broken up and regulated if the US is ever to be a free nation again.

[Zorra]

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