In this article, we are going to list the 15 biggest media companies in the world. Click to skip ahead and jump to the 5 biggest media companies in the world.
What are the biggest media companies in the world? The word media, which is the plural of medium, refers to the channels of communication through which news, music, movies, education, promotional messages, and other data are distributed. The media industry is comprised of fields of advertising, broadcasting, and networking, news, printing and publishing, digital, recording, and motion pictures, and each has its associated infrastructure. Media companies conduct business within these areas and offer end-users products and services from individuals to large organizations.
The pandemic has affected every business around the world and the media industry is one of the sectors that has been hit hard. During lockdowns, the suspension of film and television projects caused release dates to be postponed and contributed to content recycling. The strict social distancing protocols have prevented us from going to theme parks, resorts, theaters, and stadiums. This has contributed to major declines in profits from ticket sales, merchandising, promotions, and advertisement. People stayed at home for most of the year and this has impacted their choices and patterns of media consumption.
In 2020, the global media industry reached a size of almost $1.713 trillion, inched up by 3.8% since 2015 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR). The market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 9.3% from $1.713 trillion in 2020 to $2.670 trillion in 2025. The streaming sector of the media industry is one of the few sources of entertainment during the lockdowns. Netflix has seen a 22.8% increase in the number of subscriptions in the first quarter of 2020, while Disney+ has reached 50 million subscribers worldwide 2 years ahead of schedule. Companies in the media market are eye-balling on the re-allocation of resources to consumers or digital offerings to remain relevant to the current situation.
The majority of the world’s leading media companies are U.S.-based companies. The market is dominated by the presence of a large number of entertainment and media houses and their massive investment in technological development and innovation. The European media market held a 26.9% market share in 2019. While Asia-Pacific held a 23.6% share in global media market share.
In 2015, Comcast wast the world’s largest media company according to the 11 biggest media companies in the world. The behavior of the audience has changed since then. Today, we will give you the most accurate list of the biggest media companies in the world. We reviewed these companies’ most recent annual financial statements and ranked them by the most valuable numbers that will help us identify how big a company is which include revenue, market cap, and assets, and the number of employees. Rankings of the biggest media companies were arranged from the smallest to biggest starting at number 15:
15. News Corp (NASDAQ: NWS)
Revenue: $9.7 B
Market Cap: $10.58 B
Assets: $16.3 B
Number of employees: 28,000
Country: United, States
News Corp is a globally diversified media and information services company that engages in creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content to consumers and businesses around the world. The company is composed primarily of businesses across a wide range of media, including news and information services, book publishing, digital real estate services, cable network programming.
wellphoto/Shutterstock.com
14. Altice Group (NYSE: ATUS)
Revenue: $9.8 B
Market Cap: $20.48 B
Assets: $35 B
Number of employees: 10,700
Country: United States
Altice Group is a multinational cable and telecommunications company with established operations in France, Israel, Belgium & Luxembourg, Portugal, the French West Indies/Indian Ocean Area, and the Dominican Republic and Switzerland. The company integrates technology with research and development and enables people to live up to their passions by providing original content, high-quality and compelling TV shows, and international, national, and local news channels.
Concept Photo/Shutterstock.com
13. FOX (NASDAQ: FOX)
Revenue: $11.7 B
Market Cap: $17.28 B
Assets: $20.5 B
Number of employees: 7,700
Country: United States
Fox Corp. is providing compelling news, sports, and entertainment content thru FOX News Media, FOX Sports, FOX Entertainment, and FOX Television Stations.
In an article, Silver Ring Value Partners mentioned that:
“Fox Corporation was created following the sale of a portion of the business to Disney. What remains is the Fox News network, FOX broadcast network and major-market TV stations, as well as the national sports cable networks. Of all the assets, Fox News is by far the most important, contributing approximately 75% of normalized profitability. It is also the one that has the strongest sustainable competitive advantage. Almost half of the country perceives it as a must-have network, and it therefore enjoys very inelastic demand. I consider the business to be of Excellent quality. The management team is experienced and has a good track record of value creation. They have recently shown restraint in not bidding to recoup the regional sports network business that the predecessor company sold to Disney and that the latter was forced to divest. Finally, the balance sheet is in solid shape, with net Debt/EBITDA at under 2.5x.
My range of values is between $20 and $107, with a base case of $56. This is driven by a business that I believe has normalized EPS/FCF of $2.75-$3.00 in a few years that is growing in the midsingle digits. The company also has a number of excess assets that are worth close to $10/share. The largest of these is a sizable NOL which allows it to reduce its cash taxes for many years, as well as a stake in Roku and a valuable studio lot. I purchased the stock at ~ $35/share, or around 11x forward 12 months normalized EPS excluding excess assets. I sized the investment as a small, 5%, position because 1) the downside is > 35% and 2) this investment has meaningful correlation of long-term business outcomes with our Discovery investment. I do believe that the two companies are complementary, and both are positioned to avoid the competitive fiction content market. Longer-term it wouldn’t surprise me if Discovery and Fox merge as this would give them even more scale and make their combined offering even more must-have.”
12. Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC)
Revenue: $14.9 B
Market Cap: $13.41 B
Assets: $23.7 B
Number of employees: 70,000
Country: United States
Omnicom Media Group is one of the largest media companies in the world specializing in advertising, marketing, and corporate communications providing services to more than 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries. The company offers a wide range of marketing solutions spanning brand advertising, customer relationship management (CRM), media planning and purchasing services, public relations, and a wide range of specialty communications services to drive bottom-line results for our clients.
11. WPP
Revenue: $16.9 B
Market Cap: $9.5 B
Assets: $41.5 B
Number of employees: 134,281
Country: United Kingdom
WPP plc is British multinational communication, advertising, public relations, technology, and commercial holding company and is considered to be one of the largest advertising companies in the world.
10. Vivendi
Revenue: $17.8 B
Market Cap: $25.3 B
Assets: $41.9 B
Number of employees: 44,641
Country: France
Vivendi SE is a French-based integrated content, media, and communications group working across the entire media value chain. The business manages Universal Music Group, the Canal+ Group, Havas, Gameloft, Vivendi Village, New Initiatives, and the Corporate Group.
oliveromg/Shutterstock.com
9. BCE Inc. (NYSE: BCE)
Revenue: $18.1 B
Market cap: $36.6 B
Assets: $46.4 B
Number of employees: 52,100
Country: Canada
Bell Canada Enterprise, Inc. is a telecommunications and media conglomerate engaged in the provision of communications services to residential, business, and wholesale customers. The core operations include conventional, specialty, and pay television, digital media, radio broadcasting, and out-of-home advertising services. BCE has wired and wireless connection as well.
8. Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX)
Revenue: $21.4 B
Market value: $238.89
Assets: $35.1 B
Number of employees: 8,600
Country: United States
Netflix and chill? The world’s biggest internet streaming company distributes films and TV shows in a variety of genres and languages with over 200 million paid subscribers in more than 190 countries. Netflix produces its content and negotiates with other producers for the distribution of programming rights. Netflix still delivers DVDs to US customers by mail, although the legacy business is getting smaller every year.
In an article we posted, Ensemble Fund highlighted the growth of the company and why Netflix should be included in your portfolio:
“Two years ago, we shared that Netflix was reaping the benefits of its unique business model, where a generational shift in video services over the Internet-enabled Netflix to dream big and bet big – to become the first global-scale direct to consumer subscription media company.
Unlike traditional media companies, its growth opportunity was not limited by regional relationships like cable and satellite companies who had built and owned physical connections to their customers. It was one that was open to reaching anyone with the more pervasive virtual connection, the Internet – wired or wireless – anywhere in the world at the click of a button. The traditional link between reaching a customer as a media provider and the physical infrastructure build was no longer a limit to growth and economics.
Netflix’s success in realizing this opportunity has everything to do with the company’s culture born of its history as an internet-based, innovation-driven business, which drove it to build capabilities that have underpinned its execution.”
Copyright: lculig / 123RF Stock Photo
7. ViacomCBS (NASDAQ: VIAC)
Revenue: $27.81 B
Market Cap: $23.04 B
Number of employees: 11,200
Country: United States
One of the biggest media companies in the world is formed by the merger of Viacom and CBS Corporation in 2019. The company now owns media brands all over the world, including the various CBS networks, Channel 5 in the UK, and MTV. Its holdings include a database with 3,600 film titles and 140,000 TV episodes along with Paramount Pictures Studio, the CBS broadcast network, cable network brands such as Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, as well as streaming services including CBS All Access.
Pixabay/Public Domain
6. Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR)
Revenue: $45.8 B
Market value: $132.23 B
Assets: $150.6 B
Number of employees: 95,100
Country: United States
Charter Communications, Inc. is a major broadband connectivity company and cable operator serving more than 30 million customers in 41 countries through its brand Spectrum. Charter Communications also distributes award-winning news coverage, sports, and high-quality original shows to its customers through Spectrum Networks and Spectrum Originals.
Click to continue and see the 5 biggest media companies in the world.
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Disclosure: None. 15 Biggest Media Companies in the World is originally published at Insider Monkey.
