In this article, we will be taking a look at the 15 biggest journalism companies in the US. To skip our detailed analysis of the journalism industry, click 5 Biggest Journalism Companies in the US.
The mass media industry has remained a crucial part of the global economy for centuries. Whether you are interested in the financial markets, politics, or entertainment, it is likely that much of your opinion on any of these subjects will be heavily influenced by the media you consume. In this manner, journalism is an essential tool in the arsenal of those who prioritize controlling public opinion. And while many are heralding the age of modern technology and the internet as the end of an era for traditional media, it would be premature to write off the companies that have survived in this space for so long.
Adapting to a New Environment
With the rise of the internet, companies in many industries began to see their operations being impacted. Those operating within the journalism sector were no different, considering they found themselves often outmaneuvered by social media platforms offering news and information in real-time to a global audience at lower costs. However, media companies have been fighting back. According to a PwC outlook report on the global entertainment and media industry between 2022 and 2026, while total global entertainment and media revenue fell by 2.3% in 2020, it also rose by 10.4% the very next year. Based on this growth, it was estimated that the industry would grow by 7.3% between 2022 and 2026, rising at a compound annual growth rate of 4.6%.
This growth has been heavily attributed to the adaptation of media and journalism companies to the digital environment. With the COVID-19 pandemic in particular, most readers and audiences developed a greater interest in digital content, making this a new and largely untapped market for many traditional media companies. Identifying and exploiting this market is what is allowing many of these companies to retain their position in the economy. For example, according to an article published by the Reuters Institute this January, more publishers today are willing to pour resources into podcasts and digital audio, which have been useful in increasing brand loyalty for many news brands. Media and journalism companies are also beginning to integrate artificial intelligence into their products to offer personalized experiences to their audiences. Additionally, while print media seems to be going out of fashion, a trend expected through 2023 is that of traditional news media companies taking their print publications online to make them more accessible for their readers.
While the rapidly shifting environment is continuing to change the way most media companies operate, many other mass media and journalism companies, such as Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA), The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), and Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) are continuing to flourish with their original business models. In the fiscal second quarter of 2023, for instance, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) generated revenues of $21.8 billion, beating estimates by a small amount. Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) also beat analyst estimates by $376.2 million in the fiscal first quarter, with its revenue of $29.7 billion. The performance of companies such as these is evidence of the resilience of the US media and journalism companies, whether because they are highly profitable behemoths in their industry or because they are especially adept at conforming to changing conditions and trends. In light of this resilience, we have compiled a list of the largest US journalism companies in the market today.
Let's now take a look at the 15 biggest journalism companies in the US.
Our Methodology
Each of the journalism companies listed below is thus a major contributor to the US mass media and journalism industry since they either operate major news channels, TV networks, and newspapers or aid their distribution among the American populace. For pure-play journalism companies, we valued them using their market capitalizations if they were public companies. To estimate the value of private companies like Associated Press and Bloomberg, we used a revenue multiple of 1.5x. Several companies in our list were subsidiaries of larger corporations, and for them, we looked up their estimated valuations according to analysts or other professionals. We then ranked these companies based on their valuations, from the lowest to the highest.
Market Capitalization as of May 20: $315.9 million
Gannett is a media and marketing solutions company based in McLean, Virginia. The company operates through its Gannett Media and Digital Marketing Solutions segments.
Gannett's products include 218 daily print media, 175 weekly print media, and 266 locally-focused websites. The journalism company also offers 154 daily and weekly news media brands and 90 magazines. The company has about 14,200 employees.
Associated Press is a news agency company based in New York. The company is reputed as one of the biggest not-for-profit news agencies operating within the US today. It was founded in 1846 and today continues to produce reports distributed among US newspapers and broadcasters.
The company has earned 58 Pulitzer Prizes to date, with 35 prizes won in the photography category. It operates about 248 news bureaus across the globe alongside the AP Radio Network. Associated Press is heralded as a leader within the independent journalism space. It covers wide-ranging topic areas, including local and international news, politics, sports, entertainment, business, and more. In 2022, the company's revenue was $568.1 million, according to Forbes.
Like Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA), The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), and Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA), Associated Press is a top-tier American journalism company.
13. ABC News (Owned by The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS))
Estimated Valuation as of May 20: $1.2 billion
ABC News is a commercial broadcast television network with a broadcast center in New York. It is owned by the Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), a mass media and entertainment conglomerate based in Burbank, California.
The network has over 300 television stations offering sports news, entertainment news, current events news, and more. It also has talks shows such as The View and news shows such as GMA3.
12. CBS Entertainment Group (Owned by Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA))
Estimated Valuation as of May 20: $1.5 billion
The CBS Entertainment Group includes 28 CBS-owned television stations across 17 US states. It is owned by Paramount Global, one of the largest broadcasting companies in the US based in New York.
Paramount generated revenues of $30.15 billion in 2022, of which about $21.7 million was generated from its Filmed Entertainment segment, which comprises of the CBS network.
Dish Network is a television provider based in Englewood, Colorado. The company is also the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish and Sling TV.
Dish Network was founded in 1980, and it has 14,200 employees. The company offers video services under the DISH TV brand and programming through national and local broadcast networks and national and regional cable networks, among more.
Nexstar Media Group is a leading television broadcasting and digital media company based in Irving, Texas. The company focuses on acquiring, developing, and operating TV stations in the US, among more. It is the owner of NewsNation, a national cable news network, and WGN-AM, a Chicago-based radio station.
The company has 12,319 employees, and it was founded in 1996. Nexstar Media Group is the largest local TV and media company in the US since it operates 200 broadcast stations in 116 markets.
The New York Times is a highly reputable publishing company based in New York. It provides news and information across a range of platforms like newspapers and its website. The company offers the Times, which has an American and international version.
The company has 5,800 employees, and in 2022, it reported a worldwide readership of 740,000 paid print subscribers. Alongside this, it also reported 8.6 million paid digital subscribers. The New York Times covers areas such as US news and politics, business, science, sports, and more.
8. CNN (Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD))
Estimated Valuation as of May 20: $6 billion
CNN is a multinational news network and website based in Atlanta, Georgia. It is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a leading American multinational media conglomerate based in New York.
In 2019, CNN was the third-most-popular cable network in terms of viewers, coming in behind Fox News and MSNBC.
Liberty Media is a mass media company based in Englewood, Colorado. It was founded in 1991 and today features music, sports, entertainment, news, and more through its proprietary satellite radio systems.
As of December 2021, the company served about 34 million subscribers through its Sirius XM subscription and another 6.4 million subscribers through Pandora
News Corp is a large media company owned by the Murdoch Family. It is based in New York and was formed for the second time in 2013 after the original company spun off into 21st Century Fox.
The company operates through its Digital Real Estate Services, Subscription Video Services, Dow Jones, Book Publishing, News Media, and Other segments. Some of News Corp's notable publications include the Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch, Investor's Business Daily, and Dow Jones Newswires.
Like Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA), The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), and Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA), News Corp is among the leading American journalism companies in the market today.
