Media Conglomeration

In class today we talked about media conglomeration and its major impacts and effects. Media conglomeration is the act of a company acquiring many different other large companies in the television, radio, publishing, movies, internet, and other related mass media themes.

In Monaco the only newspaper, the weekly Journal de Monaco, is owned by the government and can be considered part of a media conglomerate because the government also owns the one AM radio station in the country, therefore the government owns two aspects of the media and has the upperhand against the competition. The television station, TV-Monte Carlo is currently owned jointly by the French media holdings company,TF1 Group and the government of Monaco. Radio Monte-Carlo is owned by the TF1 Group and the government of monaco as well and is broadcast in several European countries besides Monaco and is seen as one of the most neutral European radio stations according to BBC News. The TF1 Group also owns several other media companies including ones jointly owned by the government of France because of this media conglomerate, France and Monaco are a big influence on eachother and not just in the media. Essentially all the media in Monaco is run by the government and the TF1 Group except for the privately owned Riviera Radio. All in all media conglomeration is very much present in Monaco and it causes France to be a big factor in their news not just because of the shared language and customs but because of the French government's role in the Monoco media.

In comparison with Monaco, the majority of Luxembourg's media is privately owned. RTL Group is one of the major media players in the TV and broadcasting aspects in Luxembourg as well as the rest of Europe according to a country profile by BBC News. RTL Group is majority-owned by one of the "Big Six" media conglomerates, Bertelsmann and because of this, many of its companies are based in countries all over the world not just in Luxembourg and especially in France and Germany. The newspaper, Luxemburger Wort, is owned by the media conglomerate, Saint-Paul Luxembourg, a group that owns two radio stations, a publishing house and a chain of bookstores, all in Luxembourg thus not just an example of the media conglomeration but of vertical and horizontal integration.

The effects of media conglomeration are prominent and vast in both of these countries. The cause of media conglomeration is most likely out of both countries' proximity to its neighbors and the sharing of languages. Luxembourg is a small country, but because of its radio and

Picture Courtesy of backstage.rtlgroup.com television companies being owned by Bertelsmann, it is one of the most influential media countries in the world especially in Europe and especially in Germany and France. Although Monaco's government is very much involved in its media, the media giant TF1 Group, keeps Monaco connected to the world and a leading radio player in Europe. Most of the content seen on TV and heard on the radio in Europe is dictated by the trends of Luxembourg and Monaco, two of the smallest countries in Europe.