Who are The Big Six?
In 1983, 90% of America’s media was owned by 50 companies. In 2011 the same 90% is controlled by just six companies. There companies are known as ‘The Big Six’. These ‘Big Six’ each have their own ‘family brands’. These are companies that are owned by the big company. This is why such a large percentage of America is controlled by just six companies, the majority of smaller companies are controlled by the larger ones. The Big six media companies worldwide are as follows: ‘Viacom’, ‘Disney’, ‘News corp’, ‘CBS’, ‘Comcast’ and ‘Time Warner’.
Comcast
Comcast is an American mass media company, it is the largest broadcasting and cable company in terms of revenue, earning $65 billion in 2013 alone. That is roughly the same amount…show more content… Just a few of Time Warner’s assets include, Cartoon Network, DC Comics and Hanna-Barbera Entertainment. In 2000, AOL bought Time Warner for $164 billion and the company was known as AOL Time Warner, this lasted until 2009 when Time Warner announced AOL would be a separate company, with Time Warner going back to its original name. Time Warner own hundreds of assets, one of their largest assets being Turner Broadcast System. If this doesn’t ring any bells, TBS own the rights to CNN, (one of America’s biggest television channel) the rights to broadcast the NBA and its websites, and the same with…show more content… If you worked out how much media was owned by the parent company alone then the ‘domination’ wouldn’t exist. It is because of the parent company’s assets that they control nearly everything we see, hear and read.
Vertical and Horizontal integration
Vertical integration is a system in which the supply chain of the company is owned by just one company. This one company oversees the entire production, from planning to shipping to stocking their shops. A good example of a company that is vertically integrated is Apple Inc. Apple are based in California. Although Apple get their hardware sourced by contractors such as Foxconn, it still counts as vertical integration.
Horizontal integration is when a company acquires other companies in an effort to expand their business. The best example of this is Coca-Cola. Coke are the biggest soft drink manufactures in the world, this is not just down to their own original product. Coca-Cola also own companies such as Sprite, Lilt, Powerade and Rockstar to name but a few of the many companies Coca-Cola have control over. This helps the company have a wide influence and make as much profit as