[Mb-civic] Media...

[Jim Burns]

Interesting note, abeit from a while back,  from
www.turnoffyourtv.com...

Television Industry Overview

What the TV industry does, it does for money. In 2003 and 2004, TV
networks and their associated conglomerates made billions of dollars.
Yet, like Coca-Cola and Doritos, what these huge corporations have to
offer, in terms of television products, is certainly not essential for
human survival on the planet. Nobody will literally die if they don't
watch Monday Night Football or American Idol. Yet, through a cultivation
of resources, the huge media corporations have woven their TV products
into the fabric of society.

In his book, "The New Media Monopoly" (2004 edition), author Ben
Bagdikian explains that "though today's media reach more Americans than
ever before, they are controlled by the smallest number of owners than
ever before. In 1983, there were fifty dominant media corporations,
today there are five. These five corporations decide what most citizens
will -- or will not -- learn." Bagdikian calls today's media landscape a
"monopoly" -- one seller of a product, rather than an oligopoly -- a few
sellers of a product. Though oligopoly seems like the more natural
description, Bagdikian argues that the major media corporations all work
together to consolidate control of the industry and profit streams. He
equates the current media landscape to OPEC's monopolistic control of
oil production. For example, profits from the A&E Television Networks
are shared by The Hearst Corporation, The Walt Disney Company and
General Electric. So whether one calls media ownership a monopoly or
oligopoly, both are economic theories of what is known as imperfect
competition.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers business firm estimates that the global TV
network market rose in 2003 to $130.7 billion. In the company's Global
Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2004-2008 report, it predicts that by
2008, the industry will reach $174 billion. The fastest growing market
is, not surprisingly, the United States with an annual growth rate of
7.5%...