Media conglomerate

A media conglomerate, media group, or media institution is a company that owns numerous companies in various mass media; i.e. television, radio, publishing, motion picture, and the Internet. According to the magazine Nation, "Media conglomerates strive for policies that facilitate their control of the markets around the world."

These conglomerates exist in the Americas as well as Europe and Asia. Media conglomerates have become a standard feature of the global economic system since 1950.

Terminology

A conglomerate is a large company composed of a number of smaller companies (subsidiaries) engaged in seemingly unrelated businesses.

As of 2007, it has been questioned whether media companies actually are unrelated. The practice of conglomeration has been used for the sharing of various kinds of content such as news, film and video, and music. The media sector's tendency to consolidate causes formerly diversified companies to appear less diverse as a result. Therefore, the term media group may also be applied, however, it has not so far replaced the more traditional term.