Transnational Media and Corporate Hegemony

Lee Artz,

Purdue University Calumet

Paper presented to the

50th Anniversary Conference

International Association of Mass Communication Research

Political Economy Division

Paris, France

July 24, 2007

(Draft work not for citation; contact author for permission)

Lee Artz

Department of Communication and Creative Arts

Purdue University, 2200 169th St., Hammond, IN 46323 USA

artz@calumet.purdue.edu
Transnational Media and Corporate Hegemony

Lee Artz

            Corporate media and their projects around the globe undergo frequent realignment subject to the vagaries of the media market and political changes internationally and within various nation-states. Indeed, the details of various media joint ventures, direct foreign investments, or mergers cited here are already dated.  However, the hegemonic model of deregulation, privatization, and commercialization now characterizes media practices everywhere--from the smallest radio station in Africa to the declining public broadcasting systems everywhere--even as community and independent media projects (e.g., from the international journal Le Monde Diplomatiqué and Pacific Radio's "Democracy Now!" to TeleSUR, the pan-Latin American satellite based in Venezuela) give democratic challenge to dominant media practices.

            In historical review, the trend toward corporatization may be discerned early on with the formation of the Radio Corporation of America and U.S. Federal Communications Commission in the 1930s (McChesney, 1993). However, the ineluctable logic of the market and its temporary triumph was most clearly codified politically with two fairly recent historic policy decisions: the 1996 Telecommunications Act of the U. S. Congress, which removed the last obstacles to corporate consolidation of the media in the United States and the earlier founding of the World Trade Organization in 1995, which further institutionalized the corporate media "free-flow" model as essential to the new world order of transnational capital. The subsequent promotion of corporate membership in the International Telecommunications Union and the dissolution of UNESCO's MacBride Roundtable on the New World Information Order organizationally confirmed the hegemony of the corporate media model (Thussu, 2000). Recent decisions by the International Monetary Fund and a score of national governments to privatize and deregulate their media, along with the increase in media joint ventures across national boundaries (Gershon, 2005), confirm the trend towards a transnational media--a distinct form of globalization that brings together capitalist classes and their media in joint projects which have no national loyalties or identities in ownership, structure, or interest (see Robinson, 2004).

            The seventy year wave of corporate media activity in the United States continues to mark the development of media across the continent, previewing the trajectory of international media structures, activities, and programming. Brief histories of several major U.S. media groups should illustrate the salient features of the North American model: vertical integration, concentration through mergers and acquisitions, and increasingly, joint ventures which combine multiple national media. What began as competition among media corporations seeking market dominance (and their collaborative influence on federal regulatory bodies) has plateaued with the consolidation of a handful of cooperating conglomerates seeking transnational partners. Three of the largest and most representative include the four major television networks: GE-NBC; CBS-Viacom; Disney-ABC; and Fox.

North American major media

            GE-NBC. In 1919, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) was created after the U. S. Government gave the wireless industry to private investors following World War I. RCA included American Marconi (led by David Sarnoff) and many of the patents of General Electric, Westinghouse, United Fruit, and AT&T.  In joint venture with GE and Westinghouse in 1926, RCA formed the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) and established two nationwide networks: NBC "Red" and NBC "Blue." Between 1927 and 1934, the Federal Communications Commission "regulations" guaranteed commercial dominance in radio broadcasting, although GE and Westinghouse divested their interests in RCA and RCA was forced to sell one of its national networks (which later became ABC).  In 1985, GE reacquired RCA/NBC. CNBC is formed in 1989.  Following the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which removed barriers to media consolidation, NBC initiated a joint-venture cable news network (MSNBC) with Microsoft and acquired a 32% stake in Paxson's PAX TV network in 1999. In a joint venture with Sony and Liberty Media, NBC purchased the Spanish language Telemundo group in 2002, in an attempt to reach part of the growing Spanish-language market in the U. S. Internationally, GE and French-based Vivendi Universal created NBC Universal, which includes theme parks, Universal Pictures, and three cable channels. From a stand-alone media giant in the 1940s and `50s, GE's NBC has transformed into a transnational media operation which includes other major U. S., Japanese, Mexican, and French entities. For more listings of NBC holdings see www.cjr.org/tools/owners/ge.asp

            CBS-Westinghouse-Viacom. Beginning with Westinghouse's first radio station, KDKA in Pittsburgh in 1920 and William Paley's purchase of the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) in 1928, the evolution to the CBS-Viacom-Westinghouse media conglomerate has brought together many strands, including publishing (Simon & Schuster), radio (Infinity and American Radio), television (CBS, UPN,  and King Productions), cable (MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, VH1, and many others), outdoor advertising, movie production (Paramount) and distribution (Blockbuster video),  music (Sony), and the Internet.  Notably, the 1996 Telecommunications Act allowed CBS to expand its radio holdings, purchase syndicated television production studios, and through its 1999 merger with Viacom even exceed the 35% share of broadcast holdings officially mandated by the FCC.  Viacom's U. S. and international operations include major joint ventures, including the satellite/cable network Comedy Central (jointly owned with AOL-Time Warner until 2005), MTV Asia (with over 40 million subscribers) and MTV Mandarin (jointly owned with Polygram), MTV Brazil (jointly owned with Abril), Nickelodeon UK (with BSkyB TV, a Murdoch-Fox company), VH1 Germany (with Bear-Stearns), and other projects with Vivendi Universal. Now that is has become a major global media giant, Viacom has turned more to forging transnational alliances with other major media interests from France, Australia, Brazil, and Germany, among others. Indeed, over 70% of all international MTV/VH1  programming is local. It would be difficult to argue that Viacom's MTV has a U. S. national identity--rather the commercial model of music promotion and celebrity chat has become globalized and localized as part of an emerging transnational class media policy. For more listings see www.cjr.org/tools/owners/viacom.asp or http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-assets-owned-by-viacom.

            ABC-Disney. The storied history of Disney began with the creation of Mickey Mouse in the 1920s. The American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) emerged from the FCC-mandated anti-monopoly sell-off of NBC-Blue in 1943. Both grew through production and distribution of popular entertainment. Disney purchased the cable sports network ESPN in 1984 and bought Miramax in 1993 for producing more mature film fare. ABC was sold to Disney in 1996, during the heady days of media mergers erupting after the FCC's historic deregulation decisions. More than other media giants, Disney tends to go it alone in international projects given its strong brand appeal. Yet, Disney still participates in joint ventures on occasion (e.g., a pay-per- view project with Sony-Japan and ODG in the UK; a ten-year joint venture license agreement with Modi in India; and various corporate-government deals for Disney theme parks and hotels, as in 2005 in Hong Kong). Although Disney may not currently be a major player in the emerging transnational media formation, Disney's clear attempt to produce and market culturally-diverse and internationally-marketable feature animation, such as Aladdin, Mulan, Lilo & Stitch, and Finding Nemo, recognizes the cultural basis for joint venture, foreign direct investment, and transnational media product. For a list of Disney holdings see http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/disney.asp.

            Fox-News Corp. The Columbia Journalism Review summarizes the history of Murdoch's Fox by writing: "Molded under the watchful eye of Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. continues to evolve and serve as a model for the modern vertically integrated media conglomerate. Aided by the acquisition of 20th Century film studio, News Corp. went from primarily a newspaper , company in Australia and England to an influential force in American media. The Fox Network broke ground in the late 1980s as the first successful broadcast network to break through against the powerful Big 3. Recently, viewership for its Fox News Network surpassed the once formidable CNN" (Columbia Journalism Review, 2005). After inheriting a small daily newspaper in Australia, Rupert Murdoch acquired several others and launched Australia's first national newspaper in 1964. Murdoch expanded to the UK with the purchase of the London Sun in 1969. Murdoch bought the New York Post, the Village Voice, and other U. S. publications in 1977 and after buying Channel 10 in Australia formed the News Corp. in 1980. Sky TV, the first satellite station was formed in 1983. Murdoch became a U. S. citizen in 1985 so he could purchase 20th Century Fox Film studios and seven TV stations, which soon developed into the Fox TV network in 1986. In a 1990 merger with British Satellite Broadcasting, BSkyB TV was created in the UK. Murdoch's extensive media buying led to bankruptcy the same year, but Citibank helped organize a restructuring. After the early 90s, Murdoch increasingly relied on mergers and investments to expand. He raised his share in the Asian satellite broadcaster, Star TV, to 63%. A 2003 investment in Hughes Electronics also gave News Corp. a significant holding in DirecTV, a leading direct broadcasting system in North America. Now, more than 75% of the globe is covered by satellite broadcasts from News Corp.'s transnational joint ventures. For a list of News Corp. holdings see http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/newscorp.asp.

            AOL-Time Warner. The largest media company in the world was formed with the 2000 merger of Internet provider, America On-line (AOL), and the film-magazine-television corporation, Time-Warner. Henry Luce's Time magazine and Warner Brother's Pictures, Inc. were both formed in 1923 and both proceeded to grow and prosper by developing many other productions: Fortune, Life, Sports Illustrated; Looney Tunes, Warner Records, and more. While media entrepreneur Ted Turner formed Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) in 1979, launched Cable Network News (CNN) in 1980, and bought MGM movie library in 1986, Time merged with Warner in 1989 and began the WB television network in 1995. Meanwhile, in 1991, a small Internet bill-board system changed its name to America On-Line (AOL),  went public in 1992, and had over 1 million subscribers by 1994. In the wake of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, Time-Warner purchased TBS and continued to acquire, sell-off, and spin-off a variety of media products in magazines, music, and television. AOL's desire for media content and Time-Warner's search for media distribution led each to the $183 billion merger in 2000. Expansion continues through joint ventures sought with ATT, Microsoft, Comcast, Google, and others. Internationally, Time Warner was the first foreign cinema owner to hold a majority ownership in China's theater multiplexes; it formed the first-ever Sino-foreign filmed-entertainment company, Warner China Film (with China Film Group and Hengdian Group); and plans a China-based home video replication and distribution business in 2005. For a list of holdings of AOL-Time Warner visit http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-assets-owned-by-time-warner or http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/giants/aoltimewarner.html.

music rental, concert arenas and sales, and other complementary operations selling and promoting media products.

   One of the distinguishing features of these commercial media, from large to small, is their almost absolute conformity to the commercial model (Artz, 2003).  Unleashed from public responsibility under the cover of media deregulation in the United States and Canada and privatization in Mexico, North American media have adhered to the corporate model of advertising-funded entertainment. While the language and appearance of actors may vary, network programming from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Chicago, Illinois, and Vancouver, British Colombia is remarkably similar in its form and normative content.  Despite the frequent lack of plot resolution on CBC's "DaVinci's Inquest" (Duncan, 2003), the program not only mirrors the urban crime story-lines depicted on NBC's "Law and Order" collection, their narratives unravel with much of the same tempo and social commentary. Likewise, NBC's "Days of Our Lives" and Telemundo's "Body of Desire" may differ in the dramatic flourishes of the actors or the cultural icons of the set, but they vary little in privileging self-gratification, hyper-personalized concern story-lines, and the promotion of familial self-reliance, marital fidelity, and stereotypical feminized romance. Game shows, news coverage, and sport telecasts reveal the same triumph of the commercial model: advertising needs are paramount in time, duration, and programming content; passive spectatorship, graphic stimulation, self-gratification, and submission to authority predominate (whether in game rules and host, expert source and news anchor, or team owner and referee). These media characteristics have not appeared magically, or out of traditional cultural practices. None of these make sense without understanding the class impulse and interest of corporate media.

Media and Class

&nb Class analysis cannot explain all media activity. Recognizing the class character of media practices, processes, and structures cannot explain why "Betty La Fea" (Ugly Betty) became a success in Colombia in 1999-2000, nor if it will remain an ABC program in the United States. However, media practices, processes, and structures, in general, make no sense without understanding the social class relations of production (Artz, 2006). Just as debates about civil society, democracy, and political reform are naïve or meaningless without reference to social class power (González, 2006), so to the financing, control, creation, production, promotion, distribution, and the reception and use of the media can be confusing or misconstrued if we fail to recognize how economic interests (e.g., investments, costs, advertising, interlocking directorships, profits, etc.), political interests (e.g., regulation, market goals, power, prestige, and control rewards, etc.) and cultural interests (e.g., ideology, traditions, normative behaviors, etc.) are informed and constrained by class relations.

            As countless historical accounts have demonstrated, who owns and controls the media affects the production, content, and distribution of the media (e.g., Sparks, 1998; Mattelart, 1986; Budd & Kirsch, 2005), albeit not primarily in a personal, individual sense, as whether Gannett, Black, or Murdoch own the particular station or newspaper, but more as whether the media operation is capitalist: commercial, for-profit, and advertising and market-driven. Moreover, capitalist nation-states have a variety of social class formations, and hence a variety of media formations. The BBC system in Britain,  Berlusconi's personal media monopoly in Italy, and the consolidated media monopoly in the United States demonstrate that a capitalist social order can function with a variety of media forms. Yet, the emerging media formations suggest a new global media formation, one that is replacing or superseding all national forms, one that is marked by the collaboration among capitalist classes across national borders--a transnational media formation.

Transnational media

 &;  Transnational media can be distinguished from international media and multinational media by their relations of production. International media may be described as national media produced in one country and distributed to other nations--a company doing business "internationally" across national borders (e.g., Warner Bros. exporting movies to Europe). Multinational media may be understood as media which are owned by a company based in one nation, produce media product in and for other countries through corporate subsidiaries, but ownership, control, and profits remain with the national parent company (e.g., CNN-Europe). In contrast, transnational media are enterprises that produce within one nation but are jointly-owned by multiple corporations from multiple nations. Media mergers, acquisitions, and foreign-direct investments have blurred the national identity of many media operations (e.g., Univision--a U.S. network owned by the Cisneros media group in Venezuela and Mexico's Grupo Televisa network; ProSieben, a German network owned by Power Rangers producer Haim Saban, Kirchmedia, and German publisher Alex Springer).

   Transnational media have no necessary national allegiance, bringing together capitalist classes from two or more nations for purposes of producing and profiting from media commodities. Transnational media do not overcome national boundaries or cultural differences, indeed, they depend on and exploit the cultural and national characteristics according to the interests of the engaged national capitalist class. Transnational media are the new defining face of capitalist media globalization, illustrating the transnational reorganization of social class formation as capitalism completes its global expansion (Robinson, 2004).

            Of course, capitalism has expanded from its very beginning--geographically from European nations to the Americas, Africa, and Asia, through colonialism, imperialism, and neo-colonialism; and socially and politically within each nation-state through the deregulation and privatization of the public interest. Now, in the new millennium, with market globalization nearing completion, capitalism has become the first truly world system: capitalism has not only finally displaced all precapitalist formations; it has also completed the commodification of every meaningful instance of social life, including replacing nation-state public institutions and responsibilities with privatized, for-profit operations across the board--from natural resources such as land and water to social necessities such as education and health care (Robinson, 2004). A key ingredient and outcome--but not the cause--of this restructuring of capitalism has been the globalization of corporate media hegemony and its commercial-entertainment-market model form (Artz, 2004). The economic, political, and cultural interests of capitalist globalization are facilitated by its global corporate media, which were already integral to the capitalist system due to the ownership and interlocks among media and other corporations (e.g., GE/NBC; Westinghouse/CBS; and Vivendi/Universal and the financial and organizational interconnections between all major media and other capitalist institutions, e.g., Citibank, Chase, Ford Foundation, Prudential, etc.) (Henwood, 1989). Market-driven media parallel and reinforce capitalist commodity production.

  sp;  The triumph of the market model, a decisive characteristic of media globalization, is not simply the hegemony of form, however. Although, the international success of programming such as "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?," the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) franchise, and the international dominance of Hollywood's narrative realism form do demonstrate the dominance of the commercial-entertainment media model. Significantly, the market model's domination from Turkey to Brazil to India represents the triumph of the commercial-entertainment form within nation-states.  In other words, radio programming in Turkey, telenovelas in Brazil, and Bollywood cinema in India are not colonial or neo-colonial activities nor their result, neither are they the consequence of cultural imperialism in the hackneyed Western-cultural-dominance sense as simply the local distribution of a multinational media product. Rather, deregulated, privatized, commercial entertainment media practices across the globe are the manifestation of the relations of power within most developed and developing countries, a reflection of the existing social and cultural leadership provided by national capitalist classes and the appeal of the international capitalist media model.

     The deregulation and privatization of the media conforms to the strategic plan of the emerging transnational capitalist class, which insists on the removal of any public regulation, accountability or restriction on the accumulation of profit. The transnational capitalist class (TNCC) has emerged from decades of competition, monopoly, military actions, and technological innovation with a "free" market hubris that has been institutionalized in the World Economic Forum, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, codified in policy with agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, and perspectives such as "The Washington Consensus," a major tract of neo-liberalism and its free market prescriptions for deregulation, privatization, and transnational development. We are witnessing the emergence of a new international social hierarchy including the globalization of class inequality and poverty that crosses national borders, incorporating and exacerbating existing ethnic and religious divisions. Contrary to the post-modern claims that we have seen the end of history and the end of the nation-state, nation-states have been and continue to be instrumental in determining the liberalization process.

  National capitalist classes have politically led privatization campaigns so that national policies were reformed for the benefit of foreign direct investment, mergers, and acquisitions, while public works and social programs were financially and organizationally gutted to facilitate the privatization of what had been in many cases historically national resources--including natural resources such as oil and water, and social resources such as telecommunications, public education, water, gas, transportation, and other utilities. Media were included in the deregulation/privatization frenzy of the past decade, as national markets were deregulated and then opened to foreign media products and investments (which has devastated the national cinema in Europe and broadcasting on three continents).

which economically, politically, and socially are leading and directing national policies around the globe. The WTO dictates the rules of trade among nations. The IMF mandates national social policies of privatization as terms for international loans to developing nations. The World Economic Forum educates all national leaderships about neo-liberalism and the advantages of the free market; its 100 World Media Leaders consult, edit and advise on the "free flow" of information (Van der Pijl, 1998). The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), formerly an international nation-state consultative and regulatory body, has recognized the new transnational class alignment and now seats corporate media as full members (Thussu, 2000). The TNCC works through these new international policy and regulatory bodies; it also works through the nation-state wherever the indigenous capitalist class has hegemonic leadership.

  &  In this process of transnational realignment, the media are being rapidly transformed. Competition has become muted among the major media, as their transnational joint interests become clear. Media are becoming transnationalized through joint-ventures, foreign direct investment, and mergers. It is becoming increasingly difficult to identify the national character of the media, except through genealogy.

            The deterritorialization of media production and distribution has ruptured media national characteristics. The transnational media represent the class interests, class perspectives, and class ideology of the transnational capitalist class, albeit smoothly marketed in a diversity of cultural forms. The defining characteristic of the major U.S. or U.K. media are not their national origin, nor the national origin of their primary shareholders, managers, or producers. The defining characteristic of the major media must be found in their class relations. Mergers and acquisitions integrate national media into the transnational media.

            Among media, competition among the majors is giving way to consolidation within nations and internationally to shield investors from risk and to maximize expertise horizontally across companies. This year in the United States, for example, Sprint Nextel, Comcast, Time Warner, Cox Communications and Advance/Newhouse Communications formed a joint venture for video entertainment and Internet products. Others include: MSNBC, the cable news channel by Microsoft and NBC; All of the other major U.S. media have entered into domestic joint ventures with each other, telecommunication producers and providers, and other industries. Each of the major U.S. media has also expanded their transnational connections through joint ventures and mergers. In addition to the ones mentioned in the profiles above, which included joint ventures by companies based in the U.S., Brazil, France, China, Japan, Germany, the U.K., and others, a few more joint ventures are noteworthy and should help illustrate the transnational trend:

• Sony (Japan) with Ericsson (Sweden) in cellular phones
• Sony (Japan) with Samsung (Korea) in LCD television
• Sony (Japan) with BMG (Bertlesmann-Germany) in music
• AT&T (US) with UKTV (UK) in television channels
• Nickelodeon Australia (Viacom-US) with News Corp. (US/Australian) 
• Nickelodeon Germany (Viacom-US) with Ravensburger and Bear Stearns (Germany)
• HBO (Time Warner US) joint ventures with (Brazil), (China), (Hungary), others
• NBC (US) joint venture with TV Azteca (Mexico)
• CNN (Time Warner US) with Cable Net (Egypt)
• Comcast (US), Time Warner (US) with AIT (Nigeria) in Africa video distribution
• NBC (US) and Vivendi (France) in Universal Pictures cinema
• News Corp. (US) with Singapore Telecom in Internet development
• Zee (India) with MGM (Time Warner US) and Viacom (US) in Internet movie channels
• Bertlesmann (Germany) with Disney/ABC (US) in film/television production
• AOL (Time Warner US) with Berlesmann (Germany) in Internet content

            Under what nation's list should we place the telecom merger of Vodafone (UK) (a joint venture partner with the French company Vivendi), Airtouch (US), and Mannesmann (Germany)? What is the national identity of Germany's Vox television channel, jointly owned by Australia/U.S. citizen Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (49.9%), the French media group Canal Plus (24.9%), and the German-based international media giant Bertlesmann?  We are at the first surge of joint ventures, as global media negotiate the best institutional and financial relations for realigning media transnationally.

            Across and around this media globe, transnational media are the new media. Through the World Economic Forum, the IMF, the World Bank and transnational policy agreements the transnational capitalist class has politically and economically institutionalized its free market strategy for the future of humanity. Emerging transnational media will further this institutionalization by socially and culturally advancing news, information, advertising, and entertainment which reinforces and promotes the transnational neo-liberal policies, norms, and values. Meanwhile a transnational working class also objectively exists (think GM, Nike, BP Shell, Disney, Sony, or any other capitalist enterprise that has multiple decentralized national production facilities and socially-organizes thousands through a centralized just-in-time production system). Yet, this transnational working class still lives primarily on the national level, politically constrained by national borders, laws, and state-enforced coercion, and socially susceptible to nationalism, patriotism, and localism--all available via transnational media for domestic consumption and profit. Indeed, transnational media are the perfect vehicles for mass persuasion, organization, and distraction, because they escape the scrutiny of cultural difference, benefit from the national identity of the domestic capitalist partner, and produce a culturally-familiar entertainment product with the best media production expertise possible.

            Transnational media, initiated and led largely by U.S. media, lead a new hegemony—in the truly Gramscian sense, winning consent across borders, languages, cultures, and classes by providing ideological leadership and socio-economic organization for the TNCC and for all world citizens. Nascent transnational media are the ultimate in deregulation, privatization, and commercialization: smooth, clear, pleasing in their promotion of the corporate media model. Citizens of the world rejoice! Transnational media will soon deliver via 200+ channels the best in individual gratification, audience narrow-casting, consumerism, authoritarianism, spectatorship, distraction, and mediated passivity.

            As with all hegemonies, contradictions abound. The presentation of easily attainable consumer goods and individualized gratification conflicts with the conditions of life for the mass of humanity.  Visuals of plenty, stories of consensus, cannot overcome the daily experiences of inequality, subjugation, and social degradation. Thus, across the globe, often in subaltern crevasses of resistance, counter-hegemonic projects of solidarity and community find willing members and allies. Concurrently, independent media and public media provide another media trajectory: from 240+ community radio stations in Venezuela and the Pan-Latin American television network, Telesur, to the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera and hundreds of low-power FM community radio stations in the U.S. The key to constructing a hegemonic leadership for media dedicated to world citizenship, equality, and human rights will be found in the whatever shared networks of political action and media practices that the varied social movements can forge. Media, afterall, remain a political means and political expression of social interest and social power. The transnational capitalist classes are successfully building their media: the world working classes and subaltern must undertake to build media of, by, and for their own political, social, and cultural interests. 

References

Artz, L. (2006). On the material and the dialectic: Towards a class analysis of communication. In Artz, L., Macek, S., & Cloud, D. (eds)., Marxism and communication: The point is to change it (pp. ). New York: Peter Lang.

Artz, L. (2003). Globalization, media hegemony, and social class. In L. Artz and Y. Kamalipour (eds.), The globalization of corporate media hegemony (pp. 3-31). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Budd, M., & Kirsch, M. H. (Eds.) (2005). Rethinking Disney: Private control, public dimensions. Middletown, CN: Wesleyan University Press.

Duncan, G. (2003, November 5). Sick of American drama? Try "Da Vinci's Inquest." TeeVee. Retrieved on-line, October 15, 2005 from http://www.teevee.org/archive/2003/11/05/

Gershon, R. (2005). The transnationals. In A. Cooper-Chen (ed.), Global entertainment media: Content, audiences, issues (pp. 17-38). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

González, J. L. A. (2006, January). Cuban civil society. NACLA Report on the Americas 39 (4), 32-37.

Henwood, D. (1989, March-December). [Series on media]. Extra!,2(5) through Extra!, 3(3).

Mattelart, A. (Ed.) (1986). Communicating in popular Nicaragua. New York: International General.

McChesney, R. W. (1993). Telecommunications, mass media, and democracy: The battle for control of U. S. broadcasting, 1928-1935. New York: Oxford University Press.

Robinson, W. I.l (2004). A theory of global capitalism: Production, class, and state in a transnational world. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Press.

Sparks, C. (1998). Communism, capitalism, and the mass media. London: Sage.

Thussu, D. (2000). International communication. London: Arnold.

Van der Pijl, K. (1998). Transnational classes and international relations. London: Routledge.

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APPENDIX

WHO OWNS WHAT?

(Compiled in part from Columbia Journalism Review 2005 on-line reports)

                  
1. Disney

Broadcasting
(includes the Capital City/ABC subsidiary)

Television

• ABC Television Network

10 Owned and Operated Television Stations

56 Radio Stations

Cable Television

• ABC Family
• The Disney Channel
• Toon Disney
• SoapNet
• ESPN Inc. (80% - Hearst Corporation owns the remaining 20%) includes ESPN, ESPN2,
• ESPN News, ESPN Now, ESPN Extreme
• Classic Sports Network
• A&E Television (37.5%, with Hearst and GE)
• The History Channel (with Hearst and GE)
• Lifetime Television (50%, with Hearst)
• Lifetime Movie Network (50% with Hearst)
• E! Entertainment (with Comcast and Liberty Media)

International Broadcast

• The Disney Channel UK
• The Disney Channel Taiwan
• The Disney Channel Australia
• The Disney Channel Malaysia
• The Disney Channel France
• The Disney Channel Middle East
• The Disney Channel Italy
• The Disney Channel Spain
• ESPN INC. International Ventures
• Sportsvision of Australia (25%)
• ESPN Brazil (50%)
• ESPN STAR (50%) - sports programming throughout Asia
• Net STAR (33%) owners of The Sports Network of Canada

Other International Ventures (all with minority ownership)

• Tele-Munchen - German television production and distribution
• RTL-2 - German television production and distribution
• Hamster Productions - French television production
• TV Sport of France
• Tesauro of Spain
• Scandinavian Broadcasting System
• Japan Sports Channel

Television Production and Distribution

• Buena Vista Television
• Touchstone Television
• Walt Disney Television
• Walt Disney Television Animation (has three wholly owned production facilities outside the United States - Japan, Australia, Canada)

Movie Production and Distribution

• Walt Disney Pictures
• Touchstone Pictures
• Hollywood Pictures
• Caravan Pictures
• Miramax Films
• Buena Vista Home Video
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment
• Buena Vista International

Theme Parks & Resorts

Other

• TiVo (partial investment)
• Hyperion Books and magazines

2. General Electric

NBC Universal (80%-owned by GE, 20% controlled by Vivendi Universal)

Television

14 Owned and Operated NBC Stations:

14 Owned and Operated Telemundo Stations: 

NBC Universal Television Studio
NBC Universal Television Distribution

• CNBC
• MSNBC
• Bravo
• Mun2TV
• Sci-Fi
• Trio
• USA

Film

• Universal Pictures

Parks

• Universal Parks & Resorts

Other

• Paxson Communications (30%)

3. Liberty Media

Subscription Television

• Court TV (50%)
• Discovery Communications, Inc. (50%)
• Discovery Channel
• The Learning Channel
• Animal Planet
• Travel Channel
• Discovery Health Channel
• Discovery Civilization
• Discovery Home & Leisure
• Discovery Kids
• Discovery Science
• Discovery Wings
• People & Arts
• Europe Showcase
• E! Entertainment Television (10%)
• Style
• QVC
• Starz Encore Group (100%)
• Game Show Network (50%)
• MacNeil/Lehrer Productions (67%)
• DMX Music
• International Channel (90%)
• Jupiter Programming Co. (Japan) (50%)
• Pramer S.C.A. (Argentina) (100%)
• The Premium Movie Partnership (Australia) (20%)
• Torneos y Competencias, S.A. (40%)

Cable and Telephony

• Cablevisión S.A. (Argentina) (39%)
• Chorus Communications Limited (Ireland) (40%)
• Digital Latin America (43%)
• IDT Corporation (11%)
• Jupiter Telecommunications Co. (Japan) (45%)
• Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico, Inc. (100%)
• Metrópolis-Intercom, S.A. (Chile) (50%)
• Omnipoint Communications, Inc. (4%)
• Sprint PCS Group (20%)
• Telewest Communications plc (UK) (20%)
• The Wireless Group (30%)
• UnitedGlobalCom, Inc. (74%)

Satellite Communications Services

• Liberty Satellite & Technology, Inc. (87%)
• Aerocast.com, Inc. (39%)
• Astrolink International LLC (27%)
• Hughes Electronics Corporation (1%)
• On Command Corporation (66%)
• Sky Latin America Satellite (9%)
• Wildblue Communications, Inc. (32%)
• XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc. (1%)

Other

• AOL Time Warner Inc. (4%)
• News Corporation (17%)
• Viacom (1%)
• Vivendi Universal (4%)
• PRIMEDIA (partial investment)
• Motorola, Inc. (3%)
• Cendant Corporation (3%)

4.  Fox News/Murdoch

Television

Fox Broadcasting Company

35 Fox Television Stations

DBS & Cable

• FOXTEL
• BSkyB
• Star
• DirecTV
• Sky Italia
• Fox News Channel
• Fox Movie Channel
• FX
• FUEL
• National Geographic Channel
• SPEED Channel
• Fox Sports Net
• FSN New England (50%)
• FSN Ohio
• FSN Florida
• National Advertising Partners
• Fox College Sports
• Fox Soccer Channel
• Stats, Inc.

Film

• 20th Century Fox
• Fox Searchlight Pictures
• Fox Television Studios
• Blue Sky Studios

Dozens of Newspapers and Magazines in the US, UK, and Australia

Harper Morrow Book Publishers

Other

• Los Angeles Kings (NHL, 40% option)
• Los Angeles Lakers (NBA, 9.8% option)
• Staples Center (40% owned by Fox/Liberty)
• News Interactive
• Fox Sports Radio Network
• Sky Radio Denmark
• Sky Radio Germany
• Broadsystem
• Classic FM
• Festival Records
• Fox Interactive
• IGN Entertainment
• Mushroom Records
• MySpace.com
• National Rugby League
• NDS
• News Outdoor
• Nursery World
• Scout Media

5. Sony

Film

• Sony Pictures Entertainment
• Columbia TriStar
• Sony Pictures Classics
• Screen Gems

Television

• Sony Pictures Television
• AXN
• Animax Japan
• SoapCity
• GAME SHOW NETWORK (50% with Liberty Media)
• Movielink (jointly owned with Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment,  Universal Studios and Warner Bros. Studios)

Music

• Sony BMG Music Entertainment (50% with Bertelsmann)
  Labels include: Arista Records, BMG Classics, BMG Heritage, BMG International Companies, Columbia Records, Epic Records, J Records, Jive Records, LaFace Records, Legacy Recordings, RCA Records, RCA Victor Group, RLG - Nashville, Sony Classical, Sony Music International, Sony Music Nashville, Sony Wonder, So So Def Records, Verity Records
• Sony/ATV Music Publishing (joint venture with Michael Jackson)
• Music Choice (venture with Time Warner, EMI, Motorola, Microsoft, and several cable companies: Cox, Comcast, Adelphia, Time Warner Cable)

Other

• Sony Electronics
• Sony Computer Entertainment America
• PlayStation
• 989 Sports
• Sony Connect Inc.
• Metreon

6. Time Warner

 Time Warner Book Group

• Time Warner Book Group UK
• Time Warner Audio Books
• Time Inc.
• Warner Books
• Little, Brown and Company

Cable

• HBO
• CNN
• CNN International
• CNN en Espanol
• CNN Headline News
• CNN Airport Network
• CNN fn
• CNN Radio
• CNN Interactive
• Court TV (with Liberty Media)
• Time Warner Cable
• Road Runner
• New York 1 News (24 hour news channel devoted only to NYC)
• Kablevision (53.75% - cable television in Hungary)

Time Warner Inc. - Film & TV Production/Distribution

• Warner Bros.
• Warner Bros. Studios
• Warner Bros. Television (production)
• The WB Television Network
• Warner Bros. Television Animation
• Hanna - Barbera Cartoons
• Telepictures Production
• Witt - Thomas Productions
• Castle Rock Entertainment
• Warner Home Video
• Warner Bros. Domestic Pay - TV
• Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution
• Warner Bros. International Television Distribution
• The Warner Channel (Latin America, Asia - Pacific, Australia, Germ.)
• Warner Bros. International Theaters (owns/operates multiplex theaters in over 12 countries)

Magazines , Books, and Comics

Online Services

• CompuServe Interactive Services
• AOL Instant Messenger
• AOL.com portal
• Digital City
• AOL Europe
• ICQ
• The Knot, Inc. - wedding content (8 % with QVC 36% and Hummer
• WinbladFunds18%)
• MapQuest.com - pending regulatory approval
• Spinner.com
• Winamp
• DrKoop.com (10%)
• Legend (49% - Internet service in China)

Theme Parks

• Warner Brothers Recreation Enterprises (owns/operates international theme parks)

Entertainment Networks

• TBS Superstation
• Turner Network Television (TNT)
• Turner South
• Cartoon Network
• Turner Classic Movies
• Cartoon Network in Europe
• Cartoon Network in Latin America
• TNT & Cartoon Network in Asia/Pacific

Film Production

• New Line Cinema
• Fine Line Features
• Turner Original Productions

Sports

• Atlanta Braves

Other

• Netscape Communications
• Netscape Netcenter portal
• AOL MovieFone
• iAmaze
• Amazon.com (partial)
• Quack.com
• Streetmail (partial)
• Switchboard (6%)

7. Viacom

Television

18 CBS Stations

18 UPN Stations:

5 Other Stations:

Cable

• MTV
• MTV2
• Nickelodeon
• BET
• Nick at Nite
• TV Land
• NOGGIN
• VH1
• Spike TV
• CMT
• Comedy Central
• Showtime
• The Movie Channel
• Flix
• Sundance Channel

Television Production and Distribution

• Spelling Television
• Big Ticket Television
• King World Productions

Infinity Broadcasting 150+ Radio Stations

 Viacom Outdoor Group

Film

• Paramount Pictures
• Paramount Home Entertainment

Publishing

• Simon & Schuster