The Ownership of Time Warner
In 50’s, there are over 500 media companies in America, but through many integrations, there are only 6 major media institutions in America and they dominate nearly 98% of the market in America. “The media monopoly” written by Ben Bagdikian in 1983 criticized that the concentration of the media institution in America is fundamentally anti-democratic.
Moreover, In the process of globalisation, people of different countries are becoming “world audiences”. The demands for media texts produced by these 6 media institutions are increasing. For example, In Hong Kong, most of the foreign films shown in cinema are produced from Hollywood. And the programmes of the popular paid-TV channels are bought from these 6 major media institution such as HBO, ESPN and National geographic. It is the fact that this trend will make these media institutions becomes richer and more powerful.
In order to study on this issue, the Time Warner Inc. (Time Warner) is selected to study how influence the consumers and even the world. Selecting Time Warner is because it is the largest media institutions in the world. It is a well-developed corporation so in-depth studies can be undergone.
Time Warner is an American media corporation which is the merger between Time Inc. and Warner Communications (1990); subsequently purchased by AOL (2001). Today, it is the largest media institution in the world. It had revenues of 43.7 billion USD in 2005. From figure 1, Time Warner is divided into many business segments in which the major businesses are film productions, television divisions, publishing, telecommunications and Internet. The media products include films, TV programmes, newspapers, magazines and movie discs etc.
The development of Time Warner involves mainly 2 kinds of integration - Horizontal integration and vertical integration – which is 2 types of ownership concentration in an industry.
Horizontal integration involves obtaining competitors in the same section of the industry.
Moreover, In the process of globalisation, people of different countries are becoming “world audiences”. The demands for media texts produced by these 6 media institutions are increasing. For example, In Hong Kong, most of the foreign films shown in cinema are produced from Hollywood. And the programmes of the popular paid-TV channels are bought from these 6 major media institution such as HBO, ESPN and National geographic. It is the fact that this trend will make these media institutions becomes richer and more powerful.
In order to study on this issue, the Time Warner Inc. (Time Warner) is selected to study how influence the consumers and even the world. Selecting Time Warner is because it is the largest media institutions in the world. It is a well-developed corporation so in-depth studies can be undergone.
Time Warner is an American media corporation which is the merger between Time Inc. and Warner Communications (1990); subsequently purchased by AOL (2001). Today, it is the largest media institution in the world. It had revenues of 43.7 billion USD in 2005. From figure 1, Time Warner is divided into many business segments in which the major businesses are film productions, television divisions, publishing, telecommunications and Internet. The media products include films, TV programmes, newspapers, magazines and movie discs etc.
The development of Time Warner involves mainly 2 kinds of integration - Horizontal integration and vertical integration – which is 2 types of ownership concentration in an industry.
Horizontal integration involves obtaining competitors in the same section of the industry.
References: Notes: 1. Introduction to media and communications – Lecture 7, Globalisation and Ownership 2. Gill Branston & Roy Stafford, “The Media Student’s Book (3rd edition)”. NY : Routledge, 2003 3. Davis, Croteau, “Media/Society: industries, images and audiences”. 2nd edition, Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Pine Forge Press, c2000 Websites: 1.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Warner 2.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_Time_Warner#New_Line_Cinema