The pending merger between Comcast and NBC Universal is yet another example of the convergence trend in the globalizing media industry.
The proposed media conglomerate would reach viewers in 200 countries and boasts of being the leader in multicultural programming (NBC). The companies are waiting for final approval from the FCC to complete the merger between the telecommunication-oriented Comcast and the film and television programming of NBC Universal. The media conglomerate would become one of the largest media companies in the United States, and arguably the world.
In our readings, Hanson discussed the merging of media conglomerates and how it connects communications and economics: “This trend toward consolidation and vertical integration follows market logic, providing multiple opportunities for cross-promotion and for recycling of material produced for one channel or one medium in another” (Hanson). Hanson goes on to say that these media conglomerates, with their production and distribution power, could possibly create the potential for American and Western cultural dominance in the world.
On the other hand, she argued that local and regional media, with their “linguistic and cultural affinities,” compete with the globalizing trend in communications. Globalization of communications and the media industry is not having as big as an impact as would be expected. “Regional channels, broadcasters, networks, production centers, and news exchange agencies have multiplied, significantly changing the media landscape, especially in the developing world” (Hanson). She gives the examples of STAR TV in Asia, India, Middle East, and Latin America as regions where local media have a stronger foothold than other global satellite options.
Sinclair also discussed the trend of convergence of satellite and telecommunications industries and how these companies would benefit from lax economic regulations of the trade service as enforced by the WTO and nation-specific rules:
“… the global media companies with the greatest size, complexity, and profile have been built on the basis of the media industries themselves. The rapid growth of these entities over the closing decades of the past century needs to be understood in terms of the ideological and structural shift toward privatization and economic liberalization of trade and investment that characterized this era, as well as a range of technological developments, particularly the trend to the convergence of media with telecommunications.”
Sparks, on the other hand, argued that the media as an industry is nowhere near as important as other key industrial sectors: auto, aviation and petrochemicals, and since the media industry and media products are not as “economically important” as the production of physical commodities, it has not yet reached the “primary conditions for globalization.” Although the companies are large and profitable, “they are not exceptionally large by the standards of contemporary capitalism.” (Sparks)
Sparks argued against the significance of globalization in communications and its impact on culture. “The evidence appears to contradict the globalization paradigm with respect to the centrality of the mass media and their uniquely global character.” (Sparks) However, Sparks himself contends that cultural products (i.e. Hollywood films, TV dramas, and some magazines) can be sold in various countries with little changes. This would seem to coincide with the theories of cultural globalization, which is affected by global economic policies.
Unfortunately, the strengthening of private ownership of the media industry is diminishing the sense of public service responsibilities that the global media used to employ. The rise in the commercialization of communications plays impacts the globalization trends in distribution. Sinclair argued that the “defining abstract principle behind globalization” was the ability to control time and space. “The media are central to this control, not only for their technological transcendence of space and time as such but also for the interconnectedness inherent in communications, especially in their capacity to give individuals access to global networks” (Sinclair).
Access to global communication networks is a direct effect of globalization, and the globality of the communication industry is a result of the liberalization of economic policies. Thus, economics will always play a role in the global media industry, connected to culture, influencing the rise of regional and geoethnic media systems.
NBC Universal and Comcast “Joint Venture Fact Sheet.” http://www.comcast.com/nbcutransaction/about.html
Elizabeth Hanson “The Globalization of Communication” (ch.3) from The Information Revolution and World Politics (2008)
______The Information Revolution, the Global Economy, and the
Redistribution of Wealth.” (ch.5).
John Sinclair “Globalization, Supranational Institutions and the
Media” in The SAGE Handbook of Media Studies, pp. 65-82. (2004) (BLACKBOARD)
Colin Sparks “What’s Wrong with Globalization” Global Media and Communication 2007; 3; 133
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