Wondering why you can flip the radio station three times,
and hear “Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” on every station?
It might be because three companies own more than 86 percent
of San Antonio’s major radio stations.

Here is a list of the biggest conglomerates and their holdings:

Behemoth Time Warner: 23 cable stations, 27 magazines, 27 publishing
companies, 17 film and TV production chains, 52 record labels, 13 online
services, and a San Antonio cable system.

Homegrown conglom Clear Channel: 1,200 radio stations, 39 television
stations, billboards, and concert venues. As its website boasts: “From the
time people leave their homes in the morning until 7pm at night, no other
company in the world reaches more people than Clear Channel.”

Belo Corporation: 20 television stations, six cable networks, and seven
newspapers, including the Dallas Morning News.

General Electric: 14 television stations, and six cable stations,
including NBC.

Cox Enterprises: 76 radio stations, 16 television stations, 251 cable
systems, 42 papers – 12 in Texas, including the Austin American
Statesman.

Hearst Corporation: San Antonio Express-News, 27 television
stations, 11 cable stations, 12 newspapers, 17 magazines, 17 business
publications, and 23 websites.

Univision: 61 radio stations, and 45 television stations.

Sinclair Broadcast Group: 62 television stations.

Viacom: More than 175 stations, 29 television stations, three production
and distribution centers, two billboard companies, two film production
companies, eight printing presses, two theatre chains, Blockbuster, CBS, and
MTV, among other cable networks.

The Washington Post Company: six television stations, nine newspapers,
and a handful of other “small” media companies such as Newsweek.

The solid lines on the chart below show who owns what. Media conglomerates
provide content to their affiliates, even if they don’t own them. The dotted
lines indicate affiliates.

Also, note that as of press time, Univision was in the midst of buying back its
shares from Clear Channel, severing ties with the company.

 

This article appears in Jan 14-20, 2004.