We live in a society that is literally addicted to consuming media content. Unfortunately, control of that content is dominated by just a handful of ultra-powerful corporations. Back in 1983, the media industry was controlled by a group of about 50 large companies. Today, the media industry is controlled by just 6 gigantic corporations. They own television networks, streaming services, cable channels, movie studios, newspapers, magazines, publishing houses, music labels and even many of our favorite websites. Sadly, most of us don’t ever stop to think about who is feeding us the endless hours of news, sports and entertainment that we constantly ingest. But we should. The truth is that each of us is tremendously influenced by the messages that are constantly being poured into our heads. We are addicted to the “programming”, and we just keep coming back for more. Most of us spend multiple hours each day consuming media content, and many of us actually begin to feel physically uncomfortable if we go too long without watching or listening to something.
The six corporations that collectively control the media industry are Disney, Time Warner, National Amusements, News Corporation, Comcast and Sony. Collectively, the “big six” absolutely dominate news and entertainment in the United States. If the “big six” were a country, they would have the 26th largest GDP in the world. But even those areas of the media that the “big six” do not completely control are becoming increasingly concentrated. For example, iHeartMedia now owns over 1,200 radio stations in the United States, and companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook are increasingly dominating the Internet.
When you control what Americans watch, hear and read, you acquire a great deal of influence over what they think.
The content that they produce for us is called “programming” for a reason.
The power to shape our culture is the power to alter the future of our society. We have witnessed seismic cultural shifts in recent decades, and the media industry has been the driving force behind many of those shifts.
These gigantic media conglomerates are much larger than most people realize. Below, I have listed just a sampling of some of the media properties that are owned and controlled by the “big six”…
Disney
ABC Television Network
Disney+
Pixar
Disney Publishing Worldwide
ESPN
A&E
Lifetime
The History Channel
Marvel
Lucasfilm
Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Buena Vista Records
Buena Vista Games
Disney Records
Hollywood Records
Miramax Films
Touchstone Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Vice
Time Warner
CNN
HBO
Time Inc.
Time Warner Cable
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Castle Rock Entertainment
CW Network (partial ownership)
TMZ
New Line Cinema
Time Warner Cable
Cinemax
Cartoon Network
DC Entertainment
TBS
TNT
America Online
Sports Illustrated
Fortune
Marie Claire
People Magazine
National Amusements
CBS Television Network
Paramount+
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Home Entertainment
Showtime
Black Entertainment Television (BET)
CBS Films
CBS Games
Comedy Central
Country Music Television (CMT)
Gamespot
Logo
MTV
Nickelodeon
Nick at Nite
Nick Jr.
Spike TV
The Movie Channel
TV Land
VH1
The Smithsonian Channel
Pocket Books
Simon & Schuster
News Corporation
Fox Television Network
Fox News
Fox Sports
Fox Business
Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
The New York Post
Barron’s
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Beliefnet
FX
The Speed Channel
Times of London
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Fox International
20th Century Fox Studios
20th Century Fox Television
The Wall Street Journal
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Interactive Media
HarperCollins Publishers
Harlequin
The National Geographic Channel
Tubi
Zondervan
Comcast
NBC Television Network
Peacock
MSNBC
CNBC
NBC News
Bravo
NBC Sports
Comcast Sportsnet
The Golf Channel
Fandango
FanDuel
Oxygen
Syfy
Telemundo
USA Network
The Weather Channel
Focus Features
NBC Universal Television Distribution
NBC Universal Television Studio
Universal Parks & Resorts
Universal Pictures
Sony
Sony Pictures
Sony Pictures Animation
Sony Entertainment Televsion
Sony Music
Sony Interactive Entertainment (Playstation)
TriStar
Triumph Films
Affirm Films
Animax
Crackle
CSC Media Group
Columbia Pictures
Destination Films
Big tech companies such as Amazon, Apple and Netflix have started to produce their own content in recent years, but their content is nearly indistinguishable from that produced by the “big six”.
The primary goal of these behemoths is to make money.
So they aren’t going to do anything that will threaten their relationships with their biggest advertisers. This is one of the reasons why large pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars on advertising. They realize that executives at these companies will be desperate to keep the gravy train rolling, and so negative coverage of pharmaceutical companies will be almost non-existent.
Fortunately, an increasing number of people are starting to wake up and are realizing that the media industry should not be trusted.
In fact, a Gallup survey that was conducted in October 2024 found that only 31 percent of Americans have a “great deal” or a “fair amount” of confidence in the mainstream media to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly”.
The good news is that as the mainstream media loses credibility, the alternative media is growing.
Americans are starting to look elsewhere for the truth, and that has allowed independent journalists such as myself to flourish.
Of course the establishment has responded by aggressively censoring the alternative media, but now that we have a new administration in Washington that is anti-censorship, hopefully we will see some significant changes.
Every day, we are in a battle for hearts and minds. Most of the population is still plugged into “the matrix” and still consumes endless hours of “programming” that is produced by the “big six”. Meanwhile, those of us in the alternative media are desperately trying to get people to wake up and think for themselves.
Sadly, even most people that think that they are “awake” are still being very heavily influenced by movies, television shows and news programs.
The “programming” that they are constantly offering to us is so seductive, and very few are able to break the addiction entirely.
Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.
About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written eight other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing. You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter. Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.