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Mainstream media

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A newsstand showing many magazines. There are TVs showing the news in the background.
Newsstand in Las Vegas, 2008

Mainstream media (MSM) is a term used to refer collectively to the various large mass news media that influence many people and both reflect and shape prevailing currents of thought.[1] The term is used to contrast with alternative media.

The term is often used for large news conglomerates, including newspapers and broadcast media, that underwent successive mergers in many countries. The concentration of media ownership has raised concerns of a homogenization of viewpoints presented to news consumers. Consequently, the term mainstream media has been used in conversation and the blogosphere, sometimes in oppositional, pejorative or dismissive senses, in discussion of the mass media and media bias.

North America

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Canada

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Television

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CTV Canada logo

In canada, the television is a very significant margin of the news consumed, with the leading networks being the state-owned, crown corporation CBC, the private broadcaster CTV and the american CNN.[2] The Canadian cologramates Bell Media, Quebecor and SaltWire Network have a heavy presence in the media, owning outlets such as BNN Bloomberg, and TVA which became possible through the acquisitions of CHUM Limited, Standard Broadcasting, Osprey Media, Alliance Atlantis, and Citytv, respectively.[3] The cable network is regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

Print

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The Canadian print media is heavily controlled by two conglomerates; Postmedia Network and Torstar, which actively own greatly more than a majority of the Canadian media by themselves; newspapers include National Post, The Kingston Whig‐Standard, and The Telegram.[4][5][6] The newspapers of record Canada has are The Globe and Mail, La Presse, and Le Devoir.[7][8][9] The conglomerate Postmedia Network has reportedly had links to the Canadian government and right-wing politics.[10][11] and ties to the american Republican Party.[12]

United States

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Television

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The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is the oldest major American broadcast network, founded on November 15, 1926.

In television, the vast majority of broadcast and basic cable networks, over a hundred in all, are controlled by eight corporations: Fox Corporation, The Walt Disney Company (which includes the ABC, ESPN, FX and Disney brands), National Amusements (which owns Paramount Global), Comcast (which owns NBCUniversal), Warner Bros. Discovery, E. W. Scripps Company, Altice USA (now Optimum Communications), or some combination thereof.[13] Over time the rate of media mergers has increased, while the number of media outlets has also increased. This has resulted in a higher concentration of media ownership, with fewer companies owning more media outlets.[14]

Some critics, such as Ben Bagdikian, assailed concentration of ownership, arguing that large media acquisitions limit the information accessible to the public.[15] Other commentators, such as Ben Compaine and Jack Shafer, find Bagdikian's critique overblown.[15] Shafer noted that American media consumers have a wide variety of news sources, including independent national and local sources.[15] Compaine argues that, based on economic metrics such as the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, the media industry is not very highly concentrated and did not become more concentrated during the 1990s and 2000s.[15] Compaine also points out that most media mergers are not purely acquisitions, but also include divestitures.[15]

One of the biggest mergers/acquisitions in the mainstream media world was Disney acquiring 21st Century Fox and all of their assets. One of the main things that was accomplished with this merger was completing the rights to the rest of the Marvel movie franchise. Previously Disney did not have the rights to franchises such as X-Men and certain Spider-Man movie rights. With the acquisition they now do. 21st Century Fox was purchased for 71.3 billion dollars in March 2019.

The "big five"

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Conglomerate[16] Media outlets 2018 revenues
NBCUniversal: NBC and Telemundo, Universal Pictures, Focus Features, DreamWorks Animation, 26 television stations in the United States and cable networks USA Network, Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC, Syfy, NBCSN, Golf Channel, E!, Olympic Channel, and the NBC Sports Regional Networks. Comcast also owns the Philadelphia Flyers through a separate subsidiary. $94.5 billion[17]
Holdings include: ABC Television Network, cable networks ESPN, Disney Channel, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, FX, FXX, FX Movie Channel, A&E and Lifetime, approximately 30 radio stations, music, video game, and book publishing companies, production companies Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures and Blue Sky Studios, the cellular service Disney Mobile, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media, and theme parks in several countries. Also has a longstanding partnership with Hearst Corporation, which owns additional TV stations, newspapers, magazines, and stakes in several Disney television ventures. $59.4 billion[18]
Holdings include: the Fox Broadcasting Company; cable networks Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2; print publications including the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post; the magazines Barron's and SmartMoney; book publisher HarperCollins.

(*) As of 2020, Two Murdoch companies, with publishing assets and Australian media assets going to News Corp, and broadcasting assets going to Fox Corporation.[19]

 $39.4 billion ($9 billion News Corp[20] and $30.4 billion 21st Century Fox[21])
Formerly the largest media conglomerate in the world, with holdings including: CNN, the CW (a joint venture with Nexstar Media Group and Paramount Global), HBO, Cinemax, Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, HLN, NBA TV, TBS, TNT, truTV, Turner Classic Movies, Warner Bros. Pictures, Castle Rock, DC Comics, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, and New Line Cinema. $28.9 billion[22]
Holdings include: MTV, Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, VH1, BET, Comedy Central, Paramount Pictures, Miramax, and Paramount Home Entertainment. CBS Television Network and the CW (a joint venture with Nexstar Media Group and Warner Bros. Discovery), cable networks CBS Sports Network, Showtime, Pop; 30 television stations; CBS Radio, Inc., which has 130 stations; CBS Studios; book publisher Simon & Schuster. Unknown (was previously Viacom and CBS Corporation before merging in 2019)

Europe

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Germany

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Television

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RTL, one of the oldest private broadcasters in Germany.

In Germany, the televisionary media is a mix of state television and private television, with an increase in media consolidation due to the growing media conglomerates such as Bertelsmann and the RTL Group.[23] The most-reaching broadcasters are the tax-funded ARD and its Das Erste, the second tax-funded channel ZDF, and the oldest private broadcaster, RTL, with its VOX The most watched news show being the Tagesschau.[24]

The public broadcasters ARD and ZDF are funded by the ARD ZDF Deutschlandradio Beitragsservice, or simply known as GEZ, which is responsible for collecting the television and radio fee, which is similar to the United Kingdom's BBC, or Sweden's SVT, which is also modelled in a similar way.[25][26]

United Kingdom

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Television

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the UK's oldest private broadcaster

The mainstream media in the UK's television is largely made up of broadcasters that are state-owned and partially private.[27] The state-owned televisions being the BBC, Channel 4, and private popular channels, which are the oldest private channel ITV, commercial Channel 5, and general channel Sky.[28]

The state-owned BBC is funded by the Television Licence fee that is paid by the British public. On the other hand, also state-run Channel 4 is instead commercially funded, not publicly. The television is regulated by Ofcom, and news are predominantly produced by ITN.[29]

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Freedom of the press was established in Great Britain in 1695.[30] Founded by publisher John Walter in 1785, The Times is the first newspaper to have borne that name, lending it to numerous other papers around the world, and is the originator of the widely used Times Roman typeface, created by Victor Lardent and commissioned by Stanley Morison in 1931.[31] The modern-day papers with influence include the UK's newspapers of record, The Times, The Guardian, Financial Times, and The Daily Telegraph.[32][33] With the highest-circulation paper being the Metro.[34]

Turkey

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Television

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The first private television broadcasting in Turkey

In Turkey, the media is highly concentrated. Turkish mainstream media, which was mainly owned by the Doğan Media Group, was gradually sold to the pro-government Demirören Group and Turkuaz Media Group.[35][36] While the term "mainstream media" is flexible in Turkey, it includes several channels with high reach, which are, from most to least, NOW, Kanal D, CNN Türk, and Show TV. Along with TRT, the state television broadcaster, and Star, the first private television channel in the country, which continues to broadcast.[37]

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The print media is also owned by several conglomerates, and while there is no single definition of "mainstream media", the highly circulated press includes the pro-government daily Hürriyet, the nationalist and secularist daily Sözcü, the pro-government daily Milliyet, the nationalist-leaning daily Cumhuriyet, and the pro-government daily Sabah.[38] Cumhuriyet is also considered a newspaper of record in Turkey and is the country's oldest modern newspaper.[39]

Shifting media platform popularity

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News consumption has shifted with age demographics along the rise of digital platforms such as social media. Traditional outlets like television and newspapers commonly associated with "mainstream media" face declining audiences as younger users increasingly turn to platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook for news. According to Pew Research Center,[40] these platforms are a primary source of information for Millennials and Gen Z, a change that moves away from traditional media towards more online-focused platforms.

Preferred platform use by % of U.S. adults[40]
Ages Television Radio Print

publications

 Digital devices
18–29 8% 2% 3% 36%
30–49 18% 6% 3% 72%
50–64 42% 8% 3% 46%
65+ 86% 72% 46% 27%

This shift in consumer platform taste has led to a crisis in the smaller local news scene, with an estimated average of two newspapers going out of business per week.[41] Larger mainstream media companies with greater budgets will also be forced to navigate the technological shift, with large news companies such as The New York Times and Fox News having dedicated teams work on high quality online websites.

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Chomsky, Noam (October 1977). "What Makes Mainstream Media Mainstream". chomsky.info. Archived from the original on 2026-01-31. Retrieved 2026-02-12.
  2. ↑ "Canadian Media Ownership Index". The Future of Media Project. Harvard University.
  3. ↑ Canadian Mainstream Media Ownership Index (PDF) (Report). The Future of Media Project, Harvard University. 2025.
  4. ↑ "Ownership: Daily Newspapers". News Media Canada.
  5. ↑ Ownership statistics of Canada (PDF) (Report). News Media Canada. 2018.
  6. ↑ Canadian Mainstream Media Ownership Index (PDF) (Report). The Future of Media Project, Harvard University. 2025.
  7. ↑ "Les parlementaires québécois et Le Devoir dans le monde des médias". Communication, Vol. 29 No. 2 (2012).
  8. ↑ "Endorsements, opinions flourish in Quebec". cbc.ca. 10 October 2008. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
  9. ↑ "What's behind the shake up at 'Canada's newspaper of record'?". rabble.ca. June 2, 2009. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved January 17, 2010.
  10. ↑ Edge, March (June 13, 2023). "Postmedia is in a crash dive – Ottawa should let it decline". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on June 14, 2023. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  11. ↑ Subramanian, Sarmishta (August 6, 2019). "The new worry about the next election: your daily news". Maclean's Magazine. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019. Retrieved 2020-01-01.
  12. ↑ "Behind Trump Tabloid King, a Connected and Flush Hedge Fund". Bloomberg. 2018-08-30. Archived from the original on December 20, 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  13. ↑ Steiner, Tobias (July 2015). "Under the Macroscope: Convergence in the US Television Market between 2000 and 2014". academia.edu. Archived from the original on 2024-12-06. Retrieved 4 Aug 2015.
  14. ↑ Lutz, Ashley (June 4, 2012). "These 6 Corporations Control 90% Of The Media In America". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2026-02-11. Retrieved 2026-02-12.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 Shafer, Jack (2004-08-04). "The media monotony". Slate Magazine. Archived from the original on 2020-03-26. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  16. ↑ "Ownership Chart: The Big Six". freepress.net. Archived from the original on 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2026-02-12.
  17. ↑ "Comcast 2018 Revenue". CMCSA.com. Archived from the original on 18 November 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  18. ↑ "Disney 2018 Revenue" (PDF). TheWaltDisneyCompany.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  19. ↑ "News Corp officially splits in two". BBC News. 28 June 2013. Archived from the original on June 29, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  20. ↑ "News Corp 2018 Revenue". NewsCorp.com. Archived from the original on 18 September 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  21. ↑ "21st Century Fox 2018 Revenue". 21cf.com. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  22. ↑ "WarnerMedia 2018 Revenue" (PDF). ATT.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 January 2026. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  23. ↑ "Germany media guide". BBC News. 2012-03-09. Retrieved 2026-08-23.
  24. ↑ "ARD und ZDF stark wie lange nicht, RTL wächst, Sat.1 überholt Vox". DWDL.de. Retrieved 2026-08-23.
  25. ↑ "Germany". Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. 2025. Retrieved 2026-08-23.
  26. ↑ "European Benchmarking: Public Service Broadcasters in the Digital Era" (PDF). Circom Regional. May 2002. p. 46. Archived from the original on 9 October 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
  27. ↑ "United Kingdom". Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. 2026.
  28. ↑ "Monthly Viewing". BARB. Retrieved 2026-08-23.
  29. ↑ "United Kingdom media guide". BBC News. 2012-05-22. Retrieved 2026-08-23.
  30. ↑ "Leveson Inquiry: British press freedom is a model for the world, editor tells inquiry". The Daily Telegraph. 7 October 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-10-07.
  31. ↑ Loxley, Simon (2006). Type: the secret history of letters. I. B. Tauris & Co. Ltd. pp. 130–131. ISBN 1-84511-028-5.
  32. ↑ "The UK's 'other paper of record'". BBC News. 19 January 2004. Archived from the original on 24 February 2024.
  33. ↑ Corey Frost; Karen Weingarten; Doug Babington; Don LePan; Maureen Okun (30 May 2017). The Broadview Guide to Writing: A Handbook for Students (6th ed.). Broadview Press. pp. 27–. ISBN 978-1-55481-313-1. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  34. ↑ "The Sun is toppled as Britain's biggest newspaper". The Economist. London. 22 March 2018.
  35. ↑ "Doğan media group sale completes government control of Turkish media". Reporters Without Borders. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  36. ↑ "Media in Turkey: Owners in Data, Transparency and Concentration in Findings". Bianet. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  37. ↑ "Turkey". Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  38. ↑ "Turkey media guide". BBC News. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  39. ↑ Shaheen, Kareem; Hatunoğlu, Gözde (24 July 2017). "Turkish activists decry attack on press freedom as journalists stand trial". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 May 2022. ...because Cumhuriyet, the country's newspaper of record that is committed to secularism...
  40. 1 2 "News Platform Fact Sheet". Pew Research Center. 2025-09-25. Archived from the original on 2026-02-08. Retrieved 2026-02-12.
  41. ↑ Abernathy, Penelope Muse; Stonbely, Sarah (2023-11-16). "The State of Local News". Local News Initiative. Archived from the original on 2026-02-11. Retrieved 2026-02-12.
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