Who Owns Your News Network?

A quick overview of the chains of ownership

(December, 2004)

Most of us watch 'em. Some of us even think they are 'fair and balanced'. But how many of us know that our news networks are only small parts of large conglomerates? Some of them are waaay down in the ownership tree, in fact.

I popped down to the city library today and looked up the ownership of our major news networks in a fine series of reference books called "Corporate Affiliations" put out by Lexis-Nexis. Here is what I found for:

ABC
CBS
Clearchannel -- I didn't get to these guys yet because the parking meter in front of the library ran out.
CNN
Fox -- I didn't get to Fox because the parking meter in front of the library ran out. But we all have a pretty good idea about Fox... Rupert Murdoch, and so on.
NBC/CNBC/MSNBC

ABC

Parent Company: The Walt Disney Company
500 S Buena Vista St.,
Burbank, CA 91521-0001
(818) 560-1000
www.disney.go.com

Chairman: George J. Mitchell
President: Robert A. Iger
CEO: Michael Eisner
A number of other officers

Subsidiaries:
Disney various
Buena Vista various
- Some subsidiaries: Discover, ESPN 88, Miramax films
Reedy Creek Energy Services
5300 Ctr Dr
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-1000
Not sure what this is, but... energy?? Disney??? Hmmmm....
ABC Cable Network
ABC Family, Inc. and subsidiaries
ABC, Inc.
77 w. 66th St,
New York, NY 10023-6201
(212) 456-7777
www.abc.com
Co-Chairman: George W. Bodenheimer
Co-Chariman: Anne Sweeney
CFO: Laurie Younger
... plus a number of other officers
- Subsidiaries of ABC, Inc:
- ABC Broadcast Group
- A bunch of TV and radio stations
- ESPN, B.A.S.S., BassMaster
- ABC Television Network Group
  - Subsidiaries of ABC Television Network Group:
  - Office of Communications (sic) - same address etc as ABC, Inc.
  - The History Channel, Lifetime
  - 'ABC' various
  - ABC News and Sports
    47 W. 66th St,
    New York, NY 10023-6201
    (212) 456-7777
  - American Broadcasting Companies
    - ABC News, Inc.
      77 w. 66th St,
      New York, NY 10023-1201
      (212) 456-7777
      www.abcnews.go.com
      President: David Westin
      Executive VP: Paul Friedman
      VP: Richard C. Wald

CBS

Parent Company: National Amusements, Inc.
200 Elm St,
Dedham, MA 02026-4536
(781) 461-1600
www.nationalamusements.com

It is a holding company, and privately owned (no stock). However some of the companies it owns have public stock.

Chairman: Sumner M. Redstone
President: Shari Redstone
CFO: Jerome Magner
General Counsel: Tad Jankowski Advertising: Elaine Purdy

Subsidiaries:
Group W Network Services-- amusement parks
Showcase Southington-- movie theaters
Viacom Consumer Products, Inc.-- patent buying, licensing, leasing.
Viacom, Inc.
1515 Broadway,
New York, NY 10036-8901
(212) 258-6000
www.viacom.com
This is one that has publicly traded stock
CEO: Mel Karmazin
CFO: Richard J. Bressler
General Counsel: Michael D. Fricklas
VP: Mark Morril
Some other officers: Susan C. Gordon, Robert G. Freedline, Carl D. Folta, Carol A. Melton
- Subsidiaries of Viacom, Inc:
- 'BET' (Black Entertainment Television) various
- Blockbuster, Inc. -- video rental
- Spelling Entertainment Group-- films
- Republic Entertainment Group
- Also Paramount, Marketwatch.com, Simon & Schuster, Aladdin paperbacks, Atheneum, Pocket Books, several other publishers, UPN, Country Music TV, MTV, VH-1, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Showtime, The Movie Channel, TNN...
- CBS Broadcast Group
  51 w. 52nd St,
  New York, NY 10019
  (212) 975-4321
  www.cbs.com
  CEO: Leslie Moonves
  President of Viacom TV Stations: Fred G. Reynolds
  President of CBS TV Sales: Jo Anne Ross
  CEO CBS Enterprises: Roger M. King
  - Subsidiaries of CBS Broadcast Group:
  - various CBS studios
  - A number of TV and radio stations
  - CBS News
    524 W. 57th St,
    New York, NY 10019-2902
    (212) 975-4321
    www.cbs.com
    President: Andrew Heyward
    Executive VP: Jonathan C. Klein
    VP and Washington Bureau: Al Ortiz
    VP News: John Frazee
    VP News Coverage: Marcy Mcbinnis

CNN

Parent Company: Time Warner, Inc. (formerly AOL Time Warner, Inc)
75 Rockefeller Plaza,
New York, NY 10019-6908
(212) 484-8000
www.timewarner.com

CEO: Richard D. Parsons
Chairman: Jeff Bewkes
Chairman (media): Don Logan
CFO: Wayne H. Pace
Other Officers: Paul T. Cappucio, Spencer B. Hays, Kathryn A. Bushkin, Larry Cockell, Edward I. Adler, Adolf R. DiBiasio, Patricia Fili-Krushel, Robert M. Kimmitt, Olaf Olafsson, James W. Barge, Donn M. Davis, and many more.
Board of Directors: Richard D. Parsons, James L. Barksdale, Stephen F. Bollenback, Stephen M. Case, Frank J. Caufield, Robert C. Clark, Miles R. Gilburne, Carla A. Hills, Reuben Mark, Michael A. Miles, Kenneth J. Novack, Franklin D. Raines, R.E. Turner, Trancis T. Vincent, Jr.

Subsidiaries:
AOL
- Mapquest, Netscape, et al
Book-of-the-Month Club; Little, Brown & Co, etc
'HBO' various
New Line Cinema and various subsidiaries of it
Time, Inc
- Fortune, Life, Money, Parenting, People, Sports Illustrated, Sunset, Health, Southern Living etc
Warner Bros Entertainment, Inc.
- DC Comics, Mad Magazine, other Warner Brothers various
Warner Music Group
- Atlantic Recording Corporation, Elektra, Ivy Hill, Quincy Jones, Reprise, Sire, etc
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
1 CNN Ctr NW,
Atlanta, GA 30303-2762
(404) 827-1700
www.turner.com
CEO: Philip J. Kent
Vice-Chairman: Terence F. McGuirk
CFO: Victoria W. Miller
General Counsel: Louise Sams
TBS International: Andrew Bird
CNN Sales: Larry Goodman
Domestic Distribution: Andrew J. Heller
CNN News: Jim Walton
Other Officers: Stan Kasten, Mark Lazarus, David R. Levy, Jack Wakshlag, Garth Ancier, Brad Turell, Judy Chastain, Tricia Garrett Melton, Carla Princi, Ann Marie Leffler, Henry L. Aaron, and more...
- Subsidiaries of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc:
- various Atlanta sports teams
- CNN Headline News
  1 CNN Ctr NW,
  Atlanta, GA 30303-2762
  (404) 827-1700
  www.headlinenews.cnn.com
  President: Jim Walton (as above in TBS)
  CFO: Wayne Pace
  Sales: Larry Goodman (as above in TBS)
  Other Officers: Nancy Gunter, Sid Bedingfield, Jacquie Scheider, Sarah Davis
- CNN
  1 CNN Ctr NW,
  Atlanta, GA 30303-2762
  (404) 827-1700
  www.cnn.com
  Jim Walton and Larry Goodman have the same jobs as for CNN Headline News; some other officers too

NBC/CNBC/MSNBC

Parent Company: General Electric Company
3135 Easton Turnpike,
Fairfield, CT 06431-0002
(203) 373-2211
www.ge.com

CEO: Jeffrey R. Immelt
Vice Chairman: Dennis D. Dammerman
Vice Chairman: Gary L. Rogers
Vice Chairman: Robert C. Wright
A whole ton of other officers

Subsidiaries:
National Broadcasting Company, Inc.
30 Rockefeller Plaza,
New York, NY 10112-0002 (10012-0002?)
(212) 664-4444
www.nbc.com
CEO: Robert C. Wright (also a Vice-Chairman of GE above)
Chairman of Sports etc: Dick Ebersol
President of NBC News: Neal Shapiro
A number of other officers
- Subsidiaries of National Broadcasting Company, Inc:
- CNBC
  900 Sylvan Ave,
  Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632
  moneycentral.msn.com/investor/home.asp
- MSNBC (joint with Microsoft)
  1 MSNBC Plaza,
  Secaucus, NJ 07094-2419
- NBC News Bureau, Inc.
  30 Rockefeller Plaza,
  New York, NY 10112-0002 (10012-0002?)
  (212) 664-4444
  President: Neal Shapiro as above
- NBC News Overseas, Inc.
  30 Rockefeller Plaza,
  New York, NY 10112-0002 (10012-0002?)
  (212) 664-4444
  President: Neal Shapiro as above
Other GE subsidiaries (this thing is huge):
engineering
aircraft, engines and various
sensors, various
financial, very various-- investment, mortgage, real estate, and on and on
insurance, various
Storage USA self-storage
sea containers, various
appliances and lighting, various
railroad-related, various
Penske rental trucks
industrial/manufacturing supplies, various
motors, various
medical equipment, various
plastics and other materials, various
energy-- parts and services, various
nuclear power

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