Who Owns the Media?

Broadcast Television

Television stations are divided into two categories: broadcast and cable.

According to Nielsen, as of March 2024, viewers are watching TV via the following platforms:

• Broadcast: 22.5%
• Cable: 28.3%
• Streaming: 38.5%
• Other: 10.7%

There are approximately 50 broadcast networks, which distribute content across 1,765 affiliated stations. And yet, only six networks control roughly 50% of those 1,765 affiliated stations: ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, ION, and The CW (the top four control over 40%). In turn, those networks are owned by the following companies:

• ABC: Disney
• CBS: National Amusements
• NBC: Comcast
• FOX: Fox Corporation
• ION: E.W. Scripps Company
• The CW: Nexstar

The “Big Four” (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX) control 10-12% each. ION and The CW are significantly lower (4-6% each).

Note: PBS is affiliated with 22.59%, but has a different ownership structure than the other networks and is therefore excluded from the present report.

Affiliate TV stations are often operated – and in some cases: owned – by broadcast companies such as Nexstar, Sinclair Broadcast Group, and Tegna.

Cable TV

There are 125 cable stations. Five companies own 65.6% of the stations:

• Warner Bros. Discovery: 28 (22.4%)
• Disney: 19 (15.2%)
• National Amusements: 18 (14.4%)
• Comcast: 11 (8.8%)
• Fox Corporation: 6 (4.8%)

Cable & Internet Providers

As of 2023, Comcast (Xfinity), Charter (Spectrum), Verizon, Dish Network, and AT&T were the largest cable/internet providers.

Comcast (Xfinity) is, of course, controlled by the Comcast Corporation.

Streaming

The following companies own the top digital streaming platforms:

• Disney+: Disney
• Hulu: Disney
• Max: Warner Bros. Discovery
• Netflix: Netflix Inc.
• Paramount+: National Amusements
• Peacock: Comcast
• Pluto TV: National Amusements
• Prime Video: Amazon
• Roku Channel: Roku Inc.
• Tubi: Fox Corporation
• YouTube: Alphabet Inc.

According to Nielsen, as of March 2024, streaming platforms command the following viewership:

• YouTube: 9.7%
• Netflix: 8.1%
• Hulu: 3%
• Prime Video: 2.8%
• Disney+: 1.7%
• Tubi: 1.6%
• Peacock: 1.3%
• Roku Channel: 1.3%
• Max: 1.3%
• Paramount+: 1%
• PlutoTV: 0.8%
• Other: 5.7%

Film

As of 2023, there are six major film studios controlling the majority of the global market share:

• Disney: 25.8%
• Lionsgate: 5.8%
• Paramount (National Amusements): 10.7%
• Sony: 11.8%
• Universal (Comcast): 26%
• Warner Bros.: 20.9%

The largest movie theater companies in the United States are AMC (owned by AMC Entertainment) and Cinemark (owned by Cinemark Holdings).

News Websites & Publishing

Nexstar owns The Hill.

The founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, owns The Washington Post.

Disney owns Disney Press, Hyperion, Marvel, LucasFilm Press, and National Geographic.

Warner Bros. Discovery owns DC Comics.

Traditionally, the publishing sector has been defined by “The Big Five”: Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group, and Macmillan.

News Corp. (sister company to Fox Corp.) owns Harper Collins Publishers, along with: The Wall Street Journal, Market Watch, Investor’s Business Daily, The New York Post, The Daily Telegraph, Dow Jones Newswires, and The Sun.

Who Owns the Owners?

Who owns the biggest broadcast and cable TV owners? The three largest shareholders for each are listed, in order:

• Warner Bros. Discovery: Vanguard Group, Blackrock, State Street
• Disney: Vanguard Group, BlackRock, State Street
• National Amusements: Redstone Family (Private Family Holding Company)
• Comcast: Vanguard Group, BlackRock, State Street
• Fox Corporation: Vanguard Group, BlackRock, Dodge & Cox
• E.W. Scripps Company: BlackRock, Vanguard Group, Victory Capital
• Nexstar: Vanguard Group, BlackRock, Neuberger Berman Group

Note: News Corp. and Fox Corp. are sister companies under the stewardship of the Murdoch family. The top three News Corp. shareholders are:

• News Corp.: Price T Rowe, Vanguard Group, Independent Franchise Partners

Who owns the biggest broadcast television company owners? The three largest shareholders for each are listed, in order:

• Nexstar: Vanguard Group, BlackRock, Neuberger Berman Group
• Sinclair: Gameco Investors, Vanguard, BlackRock
• Tegna: Vanguard, BlackRock, Dimensional Fund Advisors

Who owns the biggest streaming platform owners? The three largest shareholders for Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, National Amusements, Comcast, and Fox Corp. are listed above; additionally:

• Alphabet: Vanguard Group, BlackRock, State Street
• Amazon: Vanguard Group, BlackRock, State Street
• Netflix: Vanguard Group, BlackRock, Fmr LLC
• Roku: Ark Investment Management, Vanguard Group, Fmr LLC

Who owns the biggest film studio owners? The three largest shareholders for Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, National Amusements, and Comcast are listed above; additionally:

• Lionsgate: MHR Fund, Vanguard Group, BlackRock
• Sony: Primecap, Aristotle Capital, Fisher Asset

Who owns the biggest theater owners?

• AMC Entertainment: Vanguard, Blackrock, D.E. Shaw & Co.
• Cinemark: BlackRock, Wellington Management, Vanguard

Political Donations

Note: Organizations themselves cannot contribute to candidates and party committees.

• Comcast CEO (Brian L. Roberts)
  • Donated primarily to Democrats (with a few Republican donations)
  • Described by the National Review as a “golf buddy of President Obama’s”
• Disney CEO (Robert A. Iger)
  • Donated primarily to Democrats
• Fox Corp. CEO (Lachlan Murdoch)
  • Donated to both parties
  • Described by Newsweek as staunchly conservative
• Warner Bros. Discovery CEO (David Zaslav)
  • Donated primarily to Democrats
  • Interestingly, in May 2023, Zaslav announced, “Republicans are back on the air,” claiming CNN is moving to become less of an “advocacy network”
• National Amusements President (Shari Redstone)
  • Donated to both parties (more so to Republicans)
• Vanguard CEO (Mortimer “Tim” Buckley)
  • No political donations recorded on public record
  • Will be stepping down by year end (2024)
  • Vanguard Lobby Record
• Blackrock CEO (Larry Fink)
  • Donated primarily to Democrats
  • Blackrock Lobby Record

Technical Notes

The present analysis draws on a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) report from January 2020 detailing network affiliates of 1,762 “full power” (i.e., VHF, UHF) stations.

The FCC lists 1,765 VHF (“very high frequency”) and UHF (“ultra high frequency”) commercial and educational broadcast stations as of March 31, 2024.

Broadcast station totals, in the context of this article and related media, exclude low-power and “translator” stations (i.e., stations that retransmit signals)

PBS is not included in the “broadcast” category, as it has a very different ownership structure than most broadcasters. Per the Corporation for Public Broadcasting: “PBS is a private, nonprofit media enterprise owned by its member public television stations.”

Sports networks (e.g. MLB Network) and other regional sports networks (RSNs) are typically owned by the leagues and/or teams and operated by traditional media partners.

As of January 2024, National Amusements Inc. – a holding company of the Redstone family – directly or indirectly owns 77% of Paramount voting shares.

National Amusements Inc., which controlled 80% of the voting stock of CBS Corp. (CBS) and Viacom Inc. (Viacom), merged the two companies to form ViacomCBS on December 4, 2019.

Time Warner was renamed WarnerMedia after becoming an AT&T subsidiary in 2018.

In 2022, WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc. merged to form Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.

Disney owns 50% of A+E (the other 50% is owned by Hearst). A+E operates A&E, History, Lifetime, LMN, FYI, and VICE.

On March 20, 2019, Disney paid News Corp. approximately $71 billion to purchase 21st Century Fox’s film and TV assets (including Fox’s 30% stake in Hulu). However, a spin-off (Fox Corp.) was created as a carve-out from the deal – meaning Fox Corp., and not Disney, will continue to control certain assets, including Fox broadcasting channels.

News Corp. and Fox Corp. are sister companies under the stewardship of the Murdoch family.

Partnerships & Potential Mergers

At the time of publication (May 2024), National Amusements Inc. is entertaining Paramount merger talks with Skydance.

Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery plan to offer a bundle featuring Disney+, Hulu, and Max (anticipated launch: summer 2024).

In February 2024, Disney, FOX, and Warner Bros. Discovery announced plans to launch a joint streaming sports service.