Page 102 - Critical Political Economy of the Media

Concentration and commercialisation 81

PART 1: KEY TRENDS AND PROCESSES

The media are businesses, predominantly, that operate according to business logic
and capitalist economic processes. The same key trends that have affected and
altered businesses across advanced economies have reshaped media operations. In
their analysis of structural trends in the US media industry, Croteau and Hoynes
(2006: 77–115) identify four broad developments: growth of corporations; inte-
gration; globalisation; concentration of ownership. For Castells (2009: 71) the
major trends have been globalisation, digitisation, networking and deregulation.
Castells (2009: 56) offers a useful summary of changes to the organisational and
institutional structure of communications over the last two decades:

widespread commercialization of the media in most of the world;
globalization and concentration of media business through conglomeration
and networking;
the segmentation, customization, and diversification of media markets, with
emphasis on the cultural identification of the audience;
the formation of multimedia business groups that reach out to all forms of
communication, including, of course, the Internet;
and increasing business convergence between telecommunication companies,
computer companies, Internet companies, and media companies.

For Castells, these organisational changes form part of a communication revolution
that includes technological transformations but also transformations in cultural
identifications and practices, the latter including opposition to the consumerist
branded culture of the global entertainment industry. This serves as a timely
reminder that cultural changes must be examined, not inferred from an account
of organisational change, yet understanding the business organisation of media is
a foundation for investigating other questions about the scope and range of services
provided, and their reception, use and appropriation.

Corporate growth and integration

Over the last thirty years the major business trend has been the growth of large
media corporations that have exploited new opportunities to establish multiple
media ownership nationally and to transcend national boundaries in ownership and
operations. Transnational corporations (TNCs) grew in size and market share
especially after 1945. In the cultural industries the post-war period was char-
acterised by national mono-media firms with only a handful of firms dominant in
transnational markets, of which most operated only regionally or in specificmedia
sectorssuchasthe film or music industries. Larger media conglomerates formed in
the 1960s and 1970s but it was the 1980s that saw an intensifying process of mergers
and acquisitions in cultural industries. Media mergers and acquisition activity