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List of television companies
During the 20th century, several media companies were founded. Within time some ceased operations, others took their places, and some merged with each others. The most influential eventually grew to become multinational.
Today, six companies are leading the American media industry, as well as the international media industry, including television: Comcast‚ The Walt Disney Company, Fox Corporation, Time Warner, Paramount Global and Sony Corporation. With the exception of Sony (which is based in Japan), all of them are US based, and along with Internet company Google Inc. (the parent company of YouTube), they form the top biggest international media corporations in the world.
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Current US companies (2019)
The major media conglomerates
Film industry connections
The US film market is lead by six major film studios, tied to (and the historic roots of) six of the six media conglomerates listed above.
- Universal Pictures (founded in 1912, currently a Comcast asset)
- Paramount Pictures (founded in 1912, currently a Paramount Global asset)
- 20th Century Fox (founded in 1915, currently a Walt Disney Company asset)
- Columbia Pictures (founded in 1918, currently a Sony Corporation asset)
- Walt Disney Pictures (founded in 1923, currently a Walt Disney Company asset)
- Warner Bros. Pictures (founded in 1924, currently a WarnerMedia asset)
Together, these six studios, alongside sister studios, divisions and distribution arms, have a share of about 80% of the North American film industry. Additional "mini-major" studios that both produce and distribute films include Lionsgate Films (founded in 1962), Relativity Media (2004), The Weinstein Company (2005), CBS Films (2007), and Open Road Films (2011) being the most notable current minor operators.
Music industry connections
The US (and global) music industry is lead by three major operators: Universal Music Group (still owned by former NBCUniversal owner Vivendi, of France), Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group (a long-time asset of Warner Bros., sold to Access Industries in 2011).
21st Century Fox, Walt Disney Company, CBS Corporation do include minor record labels: Fox Music, Walt Disney Records, and CBS Records, respectively. All of those labels are distributed by the major label groups.
Comic book industry connections
The American comic book industry is dominated by two companies: Marvel Comics, acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2009, and DC Comics, a sister-company of Warner Bros. since 1967.
Marvel and DC each have a market share of about 33%, with major secondary publishers include Image Comics (Spawn, Witchblade, The Walking Dead etc.), IDW Publishing (comic book versions of 24, Angel, CSI, Doctor Who, Star Trek, The X-Files, etc.), Dark Horse Comics (Timecop and comic book versions of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Avatar: The Last Airbender, etc.), Dynamite Entertainment (comic book versions of Battlestar Galactica‚ The Bionic Woman, Grimm, Stargate, Xena: Warrior Princess, etc.), and Boom! Studios (comic book versions of Eureka, Farscape, etc.).
Notable minor companies
- AMC Networks (TV channels AMC, IFC, Sundance Channel and WE tv, and production company AMC Studios.)
- Hearst Corporation (50% of TV channels Esquire, Lifetime, A&E, History, BIO, CI, and 20% of ESPN.)
- Ion Media Networks (broadcast networks ION, Qubo Channel, and Ion Life.)
- Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation (TV channels Epix (33%), FearNet (33%) and TVGN (50%), production company Lionsgate Television, and distribution company Debmar-Mercury.)
- Scripps Networks Interactive (TV channels HGTV, DIY, Great American Country, Cooking Channel, Food Network (70%), and Travel Channel (65%).)
- Starz Inc. (TV channels Starz, Encore and MoviePlex and production companies Anchor Bay Entertainment (75%), Film Roman (75%) and Manga Entertainment (75%).)
Notable additional television production arms of minor film studios include The Weinstein Company Television and Relativity Television. Other prolific production companies that exist as subsidiaries of companies that primary produce feature films (although leaving the distribution to the major studios), include Amblin Television, MGM Television, DreamWorks Television, and Gaumont International Television.