Company Town: Disney’s Mega-Merger : Industry Giants
In acquiring Capital Cities / ABC Inc., Walt Disney Co. would become the largest of an elite group of giant conglomerates with extensive operations in most major segments of entertainment and media industries. A look:
Company: Walt Disney Music: Hollywood Records and Walt Disney Records Cable: Disney Channel, the second-largest pay TV network Broadcasting: Owns KCAL-TV Channel 9, which may have to be sold as part of merger with Capital Cities Publishing: Walt Disney Publishing Movies: Disney Studios, the undisputed king of family entertainment; Hollywood Pictures Other: Theme parks in the U.S. Tokyo and France; 300 Disney Stores, top video company in the U.S.
Company: Cap Cities / ABC Music: N/A Cable: Owns ESPN, America’s largest cable network Broadcasting: No. 1 network; major hits include “Home Improvement” and “Roseanne” Publishing: Owns the Kansas City Star and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Movies: N/A Other: Interests in many international television companies.
Company: News Corp. Music: N/A Cable: N/A Broadcasting: Fox Broadcasting; also owns British Sky Broadcasting and Star TV in Asia Publishing: HarperCollins, TV Guide, New York Post, Times of London and News of the World Movies: Twentieth Century Fox, which released “Speed” and “True Lies” Other: Delphi Internet Services
Company: Viacom Music: Famous Music Cable: MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, USA Network, Pay Per View, Showtime, the Movie Channel Broadcasting: Paramount Television, Spelling Television, 12-Station TV Group Publishing: Simon & Schuster, Pocket Books, Scribner, Macmillan Publishing and Nickelodeon magazine Movies: Produced “Forrest Gump,” winner of six Academy Awards in 1994 Other: Holds merchandize rights to “Star Trek,” and “Beavis & Butt-head”
Company: Time Warner Music: Warner Bros. Records, Atlantic Group, Elektra Entertainment, Warner Chappell Music Publishing Cable: Second-largest cable operator in the U.S., HBO Broadcasting: Warner Bros. Television, which makes “ER” and “Friends” Publishing: Time Inc., Book of the Month Club and Warner Books Movies: Warner Bros. and Warner Home Video Other: Six Flags theme parks
Company: Sony Music: Columbia, Epic, Work and other labels Cable: N/A Broadcasting: No stations; sells satellite dishes Publishing: “Seasame Street” books Movies: Columbia and TriStar studios, Sony Theaters and Loews Theaters chains Other: Computer games, software, consumer electronics
Company: PolyGram Music: Island, Mercury A&M;, Motown, Def Jam and Polydor labels Cable: Launched music video channels in Asia with MTV Broadcasting: Partner with News Corp. in British Sky Publishing: N/A Movies: Gramercy Pictures ( joint venture with Universal), Interscope and Working Title Films, among others Other: Manufactures compact discs, magnetic tapes, records and accessories
Company: Bertelsmann Music: Arista Records, RCA, Zoo Entertainment, BMG labels Cable: N/A Broadcasting: Fratel TV (Luxembourg), Premier TV (Hamburg), nine radio stations Publishing: Bantam Doubleday, Dell, Bertelsmann Book, four German newspapers Movies: BMG Video, ION Multimedia Other: Brown Printing, Berryville Graphics, paper and service companies
Source: Bloomberg Business News, Million Dollar Directory, company and Times reports
Compiled by JENNIFER OLDHAM, KAREN KAPLAN and CHUCK PHILIPS / Los Angeles Times
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