The Big Six

90% of the world's media is owned by "the big six." These are:

• News Corp;
• Viacom ;
• Disney;
• CBS;
• Time Warner;
• GE.

News Corp
News Corp is owned by Rupert Murdoch and its companies reach many countries across the globe such as the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and places like Africa and the Middle East. They own companies such as Fox and Sky and news papers such as the Sun, and many more.







Viacom
Viacom is home to entertainment brands spanning across 160 countries and territories. They reach audiences through television, motion pictures, online, and mobile platforms. The own popular divisions such as MTV Networks, Paramount Pictures and BET Networks.





Disney
The Walt Disney Company is a leading diversified international entertainment and media enterprise with five business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media. Disney reaches audiences in North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, South Africa, the Middle East and Russia.






CBS
Columbia Broadcasting System is based in the USA and is the second largest TV broadcasting company, second only to the BBC. CBS owns companies such as Columbia Records, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, publishing companies, radio and more.





Time Warner
Time Warner is the world's second largest conglomerate, second only to Disney. They have a net worth of $41-$46 billion with divisions in television, film and publishing.






General Electric (GE)
General Electric is a media giant owning many of the world's most viewed television programmes and advertisements. They control much of the world's media, namely NBC, one of the worlds leading entertainment companies.




These companies all have a huge impact on our world. As they own so much of the media industry, they can control the things that we see, hear and read and as a result, we may be swayed in our opinions on certain matters subconciously. In the UK, Rupert Murdoch owns most of the newspapers and television channels, and this gives him power to influence our thoughts. For example, the political party that he supports is more likely to get in power as he will favour them in his newspapers etc.