MEDIA CONCENTRATION

Prof George Angelopulo

Unisa

Who own the world’s media?

To what degree is ownership concentrated in the hands of a

few?

C4 Ratio

share of market controlled by 4 largest firms in an industry

low concentration medium concentration high concentration

0%-50% 50%-80% 80%-100%

Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI)

firm size relative to competing firms in an industry

unconcentrated high concentration monopoly

0-1500 2500+ 10000

Media Ownership and Concentration Diversity Index (MOCDI)

- number of voices active in an industry

high diversity/pluralism medium diversity/pluralism low diversity/pluralism monopoly

0-900 900-1250 1250-10000 100000

C4 Ratio

share of market controlled by 4 largest firms in an industry

low concentration medium concentration high concentration

0%-50% 50%-80% 80%-100%

Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI)

firm size relative to competing firms in an industry

unconcentrated high concentration monopoly

0-1500 2500+ 10000

Media Ownership and Concentration Diversity Index (MOCDI)

number of voices active in an industry

high diversity/pluralism medium diversity/pluralism low diversity/pluralism monopoly

0-900 900-1250 1250-10000 100000

C4 Ratio

share of market controlled by 4 largest firms in an industry

low concentration medium concentration high concentration

0%-50% 51%-80% 81%-100%

Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI)

firm size relative to competing firms in an industry

unconcentrated medium concentration high concentration monopoly

0-1500 1501- 2500 2501-9999 10000

Media Ownership and Concentration Diversity Index (MOCDI)

number of voices active in an industry

high diversity/pluralism medium diversity/pluralism low diversity/pluralism monopoly

0-900 901-1250 1251-9999 10000

30 countries

3 media types

4 yearly

1984 – 2012 (or most recent)

financial indicators or next-best

study parameters

1st truly international measure of media concentration measures ‘plurality’ plus concentration establishes baseline for countries, industries and regions

study strengths

ends 2011/2

financial/economic – not social, demographic

<despite changes in SA media sectors, significant changes estimated only in online and telecoms>

study limitations

the national view

Findings… by 2012…

(Selected) media sectors and their degree of concentration

Concentration Ranking

Medium C4 HHI Noam

1 Television 100% 3616 2088

2 Radio 95% 2553 1142

3 Newspapers 93% 2450 926

4 Magazines 61% 1780 514

Findings… by 2012…

SA is characterised by a multitude of titles, publishers, stations and channels By ownership, however, concentration is more evident, with between one and at most four companies dominating every media sector

the international view

Countries’ per capita number of voices (voices = companies with >1% market share)

South Africa

(11th lowest but highest of BRICS)

Countries’ unweighted average C4 – all media

South Africa

(2nd most concentrated)

Countries’ unweighted average C1 – all media (C1 = market share of top company in each media sector)

South Africa

(3rd most concentrated)

Countries’ weighted average HHI – all media

South Africa

(2nd most concentrated)

% foreign ownership in country markets – all media

South Africa

(ranked 19th)

% public (govt) ownership in country markets – all media

South Africa

(ranked 6th)

what does this mean on the ground?

Follow-up study 2014

Access to all news media by

Gauteng / metropolitan / LSM 8-10 ↔

Eastern Cape / small town / LSM 1-4

newspapers television radio magazines

2014 study findings

• South Africans across demographic groups experience constricted news access.

• A small number of companies dominate news.

• Living standards (and economic status) play the greatest role in experienced levels of media concentration.

• Larger communities generally experience less concentration than smaller communities.

Conclusions

SA has a small number of dominant media companies Media concentration is amongst the highest in the world 5 companies dominate: Telkom SABC Vodacom MTN Naspers

THANK YOU

Prof George Angelopulo

Unisa