The Structure and Dynamics of Global Multi-Media Business Networks

Abstract

Today, the media empires of Time Warner, Disney, News Corp., Bertelsmann, CBS, NBC, and Viacom span large portions of the globe and exert considerable economic, political, and cultural power. This article presents a macro-level portrait of the networked forms of organization, production, and distribution in which the world's largest multi-national media organizations operate. First, it provides a detailed accounting of the internal structures of and the partnerships between these transnational media conglomerates. Second, it examines the production and distribution arrangements and the financial partnerships between conglomerates and regional and local media organizations. Third, it examines the role of open-ended network connections (i.e., links to parallel business, political and creative networks) in shaping this global network of media organizations.