Discussion:
Previously to completing this assignment, we believed it to be common knowledge that Walt Disney was a powerful company. However, we never realized the actuality of their power and ownership. The amount of companies they have under their wing is astounding. In fact, the number of other companies and products they own makes their company frighteningly powerful. For, the wealth and control Walt Disney has over these companies makes the company practically unstoppable.
Although discovering which companies Walt Disney owns was easy enough to find, Walt Disney is in no way entirely open about their company ownership. Perhaps, Walt Disney keeps their ownership unknown and separates themselves from some of the companies it owns because they fear their consumers may lose interest once they realize the cross-ownership of these companies.
When we discovered that Walt Disney owns companies such as ESPN, we were astonished. We did not believe that a company such as ESPN, which is a leader in sports broadcasting, would be associated with the leader of child entertainment. However, such a realization was only the beginning of a number of staggering realizations we made throughout our research of this assignment.
For, by researching the main sections of Walt Disney's ownership we realized they produced media networks, studio entertainment, consumer products, and parks and resorts. Through such realizations, we created sub categories in which to group the types of products Walt Disney produces such as books, magazines, websites and radio stations. Through this research, we realized that Walt Disney owns and produces every type of media broadcasting. For instance, they produce websites, radio stations, television stations, movies, plays and ice skating shows (such as Disney on Ice). Thus proving their control over broadcasting throughout media and society.
In fact, Walt Disney's power over broadcasting extends beyond such media. This can be proven by the fact that Walt Disney owns 27% of the website Hulu, which broadcasts television shows via the internet. Through their ownership of this website, we realized the power and conflicts of Walt Disney. For, it has long been a debate in society that television is a dying media form. With television shows now available on the internet, both legally and illegally, a decreasing number of people are turning to television for entertainment. Henceforth, many would believe Walt Disney is being hurt by such a fact, as they do own multiple television stations (such as ABC). However, through the realization that Walt Disney owns a website such as Hulu, we realized that Walt Disney is in fact capitalizing on such changes is media and broadcasting. This also proves the conflicts of interest of Walt Disney because as Walt Disney promotes the use of websites such as Hulu, they are hindering the success of their television stations, and vice versa. However, Walt Disney keeps such ownership undisclosed to avoid such debates in society concerning their conflicts of interest and cross-ownership in media.
Specifically within Canada, media
ownership is governed by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications
Commission (CRTC). The entirety of media in Canada is owned by a select few
companies or groups including CTV, Astral Media and Rogers to name a few.
Personally, we believe that having a
company with multiple owners has both positive and negative
aspects. For
instance, although such cross-ownership could produce conflicts of interest, it
also allows for increased security and stability in these companies. For
example, if Fox Entertainment were to experience financial trouble and go under
as a company, this would not mean the companies they own would also experience
such financial difficulty. For, as multiple other companies also own these
sub-companies, they could rely on their other owners to remain stable as a
company. Therefore, having multiple owners supports companies’ longevity and
power.