Nine of America’s ten richest men are media executives or owners. (Free Press)
U.S. newsrooms lost over 8,300 jobs between 2022 and 2024.
36% of Americans say they have no trust at all in the media. (Free Press)
The top 10 newspaper chains control 60% of all U.S. dailies as of 2025.
A handful of billionaires and conglomerates own the American media. Elon Musk controls X. Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post. The Murdoch family runs Fox Corporation and News Corp. Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta dominates social media distribution. And the Ellison family now holds a controlling stake in Paramount Skydance, which owns CBS.
In July 2025, Free Press released its inaugural Media Capitulation Index, rating the independence of the 35 largest U.S. media and tech companies. The findings were stark — most companies received poor marks for bending to political pressure from the Trump administration. Netflix was the only company to earn an “independent” rating. Meanwhile, the newspaper industry continues to shrink, with employment dropping 7% in 2024 alone and total jobs falling more than 75% since 2005.
Who Owns the Media?
U.S. media ownership is split between publicly traded conglomerates — where institutional investors like Vanguard and BlackRock hold major stakes — and properties directly controlled by individual billionaires. Comcast, the largest media conglomerate by revenue at $123.7 billion in 2024, operates NBCUniversal, Peacock, and Universal theme parks. Brian L. Roberts controls a third of Comcast’s voting power through supervoting shares despite owning about 1% of total stock.
The Ellison family’s expanding media empire
Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount Global in August 2025 gave the Ellison family — led by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and his son David — control of CBS, Paramount Pictures, and the Paramount+ streaming service. The family also bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN. If successful, that deal would put two of America’s biggest TV news brands under one family’s control.
Tech platforms as media gatekeepers
Beyond traditional media, tech companies now control how most Americans consume news. A 2025 FAIR analysis found that more than half of the 45.6 billion annual visits to major U.S. news sites went to properties owned by just seven families or corporate entities. Google and Microsoft together controlled 97% of the search engine market by 2022, making them gatekeepers for online news discovery.
History of U.S. Media Ownership
Media consolidation in the United States accelerated through the late 20th century, driven by deregulation and a series of massive mergers.
The deregulation era
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 removed many restrictions on how many media outlets a single company could own. That legislation opened the door for a wave of mergers, including the creation of Time Warner from the 1990 merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications, and Viacom’s acquisition of CBS in 1999. By the early 2000s, the “Big Six” — Comcast, Walt Disney, 21st Century Fox, Time Warner, Viacom, and CBS — controlled roughly 90% of U.S. media consumption.
The streaming shakeup and recent mergers
The rise of Netflix, Amazon, and Apple TV+ disrupted the old guard. Legacy companies responded with their own streaming platforms and further consolidation. AT&T acquired Time Warner for $108.7 billion in 2018, only to spin off WarnerMedia and merge it with Discovery Communications in 2022. In late 2025, Netflix agreed to purchase Warner Bros.’ studio and HBO business for $83 billion, and Comcast spun off most of its cable networks into a new company called Versant. In 2005, there were 3,995 unique newspaper owners in the U.S. That number has since been cut in half to roughly 1,900.
Who Runs the Largest Media Companies?
Several of America’s biggest media firms are controlled not by diverse boards of independent directors, but by individuals or families who maintain outsized voting power.
Family-controlled conglomerates
The Murdoch family controls Fox Corporation and News Corp, which together own Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post. Lachlan Murdoch serves as executive chairman and CEO of Fox. The Roberts family maintains control of Comcast through a dual-class share structure. CBS’s parent company Paramount Skydance is now under the Ellison family, with minority stakes held by the NFL and RedBird Capital Partners.
Billionaire newspaper owners
Several of America’s most prominent newspapers belong to individual billionaires. Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post from the Graham family in 2013. Patrick Soon-Shiong purchased the Los Angeles Times in 2018. David Smith, executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcasting, acquired The Baltimore Sun. The Ochs-Sulzberger family, which took ownership of The New York Times in 1896, still controls the paper through a family trust — A.G. Sulzberger serves as chairman and publisher. Gannett, the largest U.S. newspaper publisher by title count, is publicly traded and owns USA Today along with about 250 daily papers.
Institutional investors across the board
Behind many of these companies, the same institutional investors appear repeatedly. Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street hold major positions in Comcast, Disney, Fox, and other media conglomerates. These funds own shares primarily through index funds and don’t typically exercise editorial influence, but their cross-holdings mean a small number of asset managers are indirect co-owners of companies that would otherwise be competitors.
Decline in Unique U.S. Newspaper Owners (2005–2025)
Source: Northwestern Local News Initiative, State of Local News 2025
FAQs
Who are the biggest media owners in the United States?
Comcast, Walt Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Skydance, and Fox Corporation are the largest traditional media conglomerates. Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, and Apple also own major media properties.
How many companies control most U.S. media?
About six major conglomerates and a handful of tech companies account for most of what Americans watch, read, and hear. The exact number shifts as mergers continue.
Does the Murdoch family still control Fox News?
Yes. Lachlan Murdoch runs Fox Corporation as executive chairman and CEO. Rupert Murdoch, who built the empire, stepped down from active management in November 2023 and holds the title of chairman emeritus.
Who owns CNN in 2025?
CNN is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of late 2025, Netflix agreed to buy WBD’s studio and HBO business, while Paramount Skydance and Comcast also submitted competing bids for portions of the company.
Is Netflix considered a media conglomerate?
Yes. Netflix had over 300 million subscribers globally by 2025 and agreed to acquire Warner Bros.’ studio and HBO for $83 billion, which would make it one of the largest traditional content owners as well.
