Introduction

The process of media conglomeration has involved the regrouping of multinational companies, which has given rise to power of considerable proportions. This means that these companies have control of the local and international market. Its control over the market has accelerated with the launch of satellites and other developments in the media, such as in the field of digital press, digital music and digital video.

One of the main themes is related to the effects of Western media; particularly the US media, in other cultures, as it continually dominates the international marketplace. This problem raises questions about the diversity of options, quality and competition.

With the development and reach of satellite technology, it can be argued that the local culture of many countries, particularly underdeveloped ones, has become the main victim of this type of media domination, in a world of faster global communications. Local programmers and film production in underdeveloped countries have suffered greatly because international companies sell their media products so cheaply that local producers cannot compete with them.

From the above, we can see that we have underdeveloped countries that are almost completely dependent on cheap western programs to fill the time on their television screens. The irony is that money was made available to television companies in these underdeveloped countries so that they could buy the products of the American media instead of the help needed to produce their own shows.

the world market

With the launch of satellite communication systems, the global market assumed different dimensions. Suddenly the world became much smaller than it used to be, smaller in the sense of the reach and access of mass media, consequently the phrase ‘global village’ became the phrase of the day. used by the media regularly when they wanted to refer to the world as a whole.

As a result, the market of individual nations became the market of any nation possessing the latest technology in commercial satellite communications. This situation brought all the old western media products back to life, especially the American products.

Sales in this situation increased at an incredible rate, that is, selling all the old shows and movies to many African and Asian countries that no one in the West wanted to see.

In this new era of communication, there is a great market, a market to fill the time on all the television channels in the world: the dawn of the conglomerate market. The underdeveloped world has nothing to compete with this. Producing movies or your own shows is too expensive compared to what is available on the international market. Therefore, it is not surprising to see an American soap opera made more than 20 years ago on television in a small African country.

The big international companies are getting bigger every day as the number of their viewers increases around the world. Western media corporations control the entire international market, which is one of the main problems related to media conglomeration.

A positive argument for the conglomeration process is that free markets will create competition, thereby making the diversity of media products a reality for all customers around the world. This is what the owners of large corporations, like Mr. Murdoch, believe.

Local people would prefer to see a reflection of their own daily life on their TV channel, rather than what is/was happening in faraway places (eg a large proportion of Zimbabweans watched ‘Root’). It seems that the danger in a situation like this is that the people of that African country, and especially the new generation, see Western media production as a model to be copied in their own daily lives. the local culture, which must be protected, is gradually destroyed.

power and control

The power (and control) exercised by the conglomeration is an important issue, as it affects the opportunity for expression. Fair competition between businesses and freedom of expression in a democratic society is an important factor for progress within any culture. Unfortunately, this is not the case with Western media products, ie big corporations want other countries to be dependent on their products.

Access to the media is therefore limited to a few companies and consequently the choice is limited. For example, the local producer in an underdeveloped country will always be struggling to launch his new product, and even if he succeeds in launching it, the financial gain, in some cases, will hardly cover the cost. Therefore, there is an argument in favor of diversity and choice of media products, that is, it is important not to have a saturation of media products in any country, as is the case with the current situation of the saturated market for US media production. .

When it comes to the music industry, the market and the power to control it again is the main issue. The $30 billion industry generates its revenue from the international mass market. For example, a Michael Jackson album ‘Thriller’ sold more than 40 million copies, consequently producing a profit for CBS of more than $60 million. The Japanese ‘Sony’ saw that there was an opportunity for their hardware industry in this market, so when the CBS company decided to sell their record division, they (the Japanese) bought it for $2 billion. The ‘sale’ meant that Sony opened a new door for more sales, ie with their new technology at the time, eg CDs, software etc., they can sell the music again in a new format. Starting with the previous acquisition, large corporations in the music industry copied Sony’s stock by buying market shares of other smaller music companies. The latest ‘Virgin’ music business sold to EMI Thorn for $500 million. There are thus few large corporations that control the music industry worldwide, such as Thorn-EMI, Sony, Philips/Polygram, Matsushita/MCA, Time Warner, and Bertelsmann/BMG.

The aforementioned companies have penetrated the world market and have a general monopoly of this market, which has accordingly been mentioned in connection with the film and television industry, brings with it a limitation of consumer choice.

The Printing Industry (Publications)

As for the printing industry, ie publications such as newspapers, magazines and books, statistics show that between 1985 and 1995 the number of media products and distribution systems has increased remarkably. However, this does not mean that these new products have successfully established themselves on the market. Many of the new launches at the time, such as the News on Sunday, The Sunday Correspondent and The Post, were unable to survive the competition and consequently went out of business. Many critics believe that the closure of several newspapers was the result of Murdoch’s price war. For example, the News Corporation account for 1994 indicated a loss of over £45 million in the UK alone. However, BSKyB’s profits amounted to more than £186 million. The news corporation also suffered a drop in profits outside of the UK, but at the same time had an increase in profits from TV and movies. Mr. Murddoch tried to increase the sale of his newspapers; that means turning readers away from newspapers like the Daily Telegraph and The Independent. He reduced the price of The Times newspaper and introduced fancy bingo, bringing more sensational stories in the Sunday Times (Hitler’s fake diaries), all of which had limited success.