The English language includes a few phrases so yawny and banal that their casual utterance can induce instant snoring. “Cryptocurrency.” “Bird-watching.” “Sleep score.”
For most people, “media conglomerate,” “horizontal merger,” and “parent company” do the same. We hear about media mergers in the news: one big TV or movie company swallows another, snacking on radio stations and newspapers along the way. Honestly, it’s hard to care. Billionaires gonna billionaire, right?
We all know CBS cancelled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — the most-watched late-night talk show on the air — just days after Colbert chided the network for kowtowing to President Trump. But of the nearly 7 million viewers who watched the show’s final recent episode, how many tuned in as a protest … and how many just wanted to see the parade of beloved Pauls (McCartney and Rudd)?
Here’s why it matters: CBS is owned by Paramount → which is owned by Skydance Media → which is currently trying to buy Warner Bros. Discovery → which owns CNN. If the government approves that merger, it will be the biggest media deal of the decade, controlling multiple film studios and two legacy newsrooms.
Of course, antitrust laws exist to prevent monopolies, but they’re enforced … or not-so-enforced … by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under Trump appointee Brendan Carr. See why media moguls whose vast fortunes depend on the FCC’s blessing may be loath to upset the sitting president … who’s known to have a thin skin for talk-show jabs?
Apart from wishing the man with our nuclear codes could take a joke, though, must we fret about any of this? So what if we see a different logo at the start of our favorite show? Can we really be expected to lose sleep over this multiplying media monster? I mean, The Media™ sucks anyway!
You guys. It’s about to suck way, way more. Here’s why you should care:
- Ka-ching! Monopolies drive up prices — every consumer knows that firsthand. Competition benefits buyers; without it, costs rise quickly. A captive audience means we’ll pay more for cable, streaming, and advertising.
- Slop streaming. Fewer media outlets means fewer cool shows. Giant media companies take fewer content risks and don’t target niche audiences. The more media you own, the more it pays to offer up formulaic programming that caters to the meh middle.
- The Royal Retch. Does anyone reading this think billionaires need more power? Even if you’re not up on conglomerate sausage-making, further and further consolidation of wealth makes most thinking people uneasy. King George III will tell ya: Concentration of economic power never ends well.
- No news is bad news. Media giants often cut costs by offering the same generic news across multiple outlets: killing two birds with one Stone Phillips, if you will. Rely on local news for info about fires, floods, or crime sprees raging through your town? Get used to disappointment. Geographically specific news costs more than it’s worth to big-media shareholders.
And it’s worse than that: Bowing to the administration extends beyond snarky talk-show hosts. Multiple journalists at venerated CBS News have recently resigned or been ousted over stories critical of Trump. An investigative piece about ICE, for example, was pulled before it could air on the network’s longstanding 60 Minutes news show.
Don’t make me say it. Okay, I’ll say it: That ain’t how effective journalism works, folks. Democracy literally depends on reporters telling us what’s up without weighing which side of the political aisle they may delight or enrage.Which leads to our last reason: - The Kim Jong Un Channel. An international democracy ranking recently showed that the U.S. has dropped to its lowest level in 80 years — and the government’s “suppression and intimidation of media and dissenting voices” is a top reason why.
In February, Nexstar – the largest local TV station owner in the U.S. — acquired one of its rivals, a move Trump boldly endorsed. “We need more competition against THE ENEMY, the Fake News National TV Networks,” he posted on Truth Social. “GET THAT DEAL DONE!” Now Nexstar controls 265 TV stations, reaching 80 percent of U.S. households — more than double what the law allows.
You have to decide if you like the idea of state-controlled media. It works great in authoritarian North Korea and China. (Well, it works great for the leaders; the citizens aren’t allowed to say.) You lose smart social critics and the kind of news coverage that lets you make informed choices at the ballot … but it cuts down on those tedious nightly what-to-watch conversations.
If you don’t want propaganda-fueled news and entertainment, here’s what to do:
- Tell your state attorney general to sue and block media megamergers (California’s Rob Bonta is challenging both the Nexstar and Skydance deals).
- Add your voice to petitions like this one demanding that the FCC protect the media ecosystem.
- Support local media! Especially those that are, ahem, independently owned.
- And subscribe to media outlets such as NPR and PBS, which are owned by the public, not billionaires. At least not yet.