THE MERCHANTS OF COOL
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Media

The past decade's wave of media mergers has produced a complex web of business relationships that now defines America's media and popular culture. These relationships offer a massive opportunity for cross promotion and selling of talent and products among different companies owned by the same powerful parent corporation.

Examine the charts breaking down what each of the five U.S. media giants now control (as of February 2001). Also included on this list is Bertelsmann AG, which in globalizing has bought up several large American media divisions.

Click on each one to see their holdings


It is the second largest global media conglomerate, after AOL Time Warner.
viacom
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation Ltd. has media holdings in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, Latin America and Asia.
news corp

This privately-owned German media conglomerate has interests in 600 companies in 53 countries.
bertelsmann

walt disney

vivendi universal
It's the third largest global
media conglomerate. FY 2000 revenues topped $25 billion.
This giant's subsidiary Universal Music Group is
the number one music company in the world, with roughly 22% of the 1999 global market.
aol time warner
The $165 billion mega-merger between AOL and Time Warner, approved by the FCC in January 2001, is the largest media merger in history. The new company promises to offer a powerhouse of integrated communication, media and entertainment across all platforms -- computer, phone, television and handheld wireless devices.
sony
Sony made its name with electronics, but it now has more than 1,000 subsidaries worldwide, many of them key media partners.

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