The world moves on news. From decisions based on coverage of financial markets and political developments to those based on local news or weather reports, the news impacts our lives directly and indirectly. News is available and accessed in multiple formats: digital (online news content), print (newspapers and magazines), and broadcasting (TV and radio).
Investors looking for investments in news-only companies should carefully study the overall business of a company to ensure that its operations fit into their desired investment profile. Here are some of the world’s top news companies, arranged in the decreasing order of the available market cap figures as of September 2023.
Key Takeaways
- News media companies have seen revenues erode over the past two decades as ad revenues and subscriptions suffer at the hands of online news outlets.
- Print media and local newspapers have been especially hard hit, as broadcast news continues to dominate the airwaves and streaming services.
- The top 10 media companies include Comcast, Thomson Reuters, and Nespers.
1. Comcast
- Headquarters: Philadelphia
- Market Cap: $186.70 billion
Comcast (CMCSA) is a media giant. It is one of the largest broadcasting and cable television companies in the world by revenue. Comcast also ranks among the largest pay-TV companies, cable TV companies, and home internet service providers in the United States. The company also provides customers with home telephone services. Comcast controls the news media outlets NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC, and UK’s Sky News.
2. Thomson Reuters
- Headquarters: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Market Cap: $58.53 billion
Thomson Reuters (TRI) is a Canadian-based news and media company. It also provides financial and market data across the globe including the Reuters service. It owns both news the Thomson and Reuters News publications as well as other online financial and wire services. Thomson Reuters also corporate solutions, legal products, as well as professional services.
3. Naspers
- Headquarters: Cape Town, South Africa
- Market Cap: $32.54 billion
Naspers is a multinational holding company with interests across several of the nation’s newspapers, magazines, and book publishers, as well as a majority stake in the country’s largest news media company, Media24. Naspers has also engaged in a number of international joint ventures, including in Holland and China including a 29% stake in the media giant Tencent.
4. Warner Bros. Discovery
- Headquarters: New York
- Market Cap: $28.22 billion
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) operates as a media and entertainment company. The company has a range of content and brands across its portfolio, including television, streaming, and film. Some of the major names under its umbrella include CNN, HBO, Discovery, HGTV, Food Network, Animal Planet, and Warner Bros. Pictures, among others.
5. Fox Corp.
- Headquarters: New York
- Market Cap: $14.76 billion
Fox Corp. (FOX) delivers news, sports, and entertainment content. The company provides news under the brand Fox News Media and a number of local Fox station’s news affiliates. The company was formed in 2019 as the result of Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets from News Corp., where the news and other content were spun off as a standalone firm.
6. News Corp.
Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBGI) is an American media company with operations in local news and marketing as well as sports. The company has a market cap of $650.10 million. It broadcasts free over-the-air programming, such as network-provided programs, locally-produced news, local sporting events, programming from program service arrangements, syndicated entertainment programs, and internally originated programming to television viewing audiences in the communities through its local television stations.
It owns, operates, and provides services to 185 stations in 86 markets. Sinclair also owns and operates various networks carried on online distribution platforms.
E. W. Scripps
With a market cap of $521.23 million, E.W. Scripps (SSP) is a large media group that was founded in 1878. It operates several TV stations, newspapers, and local and national digital media sites. Its business is split across three streams: television, newspapers and content syndication, and other. This last division includes the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Gannett
Gannett (GCI) is a diversified news and media information company that operates in broadcasting, publishing, and digital. It has a market cap of $405.48 million. The most famous brand the company owns is USA Today. Its broadcasting segment runs local news stations in 43 states along with 120 local media outlets across the U.K.
Daily Journal
Daily Journal (DJCO) has a market cap of $402.55 million. The company operates as an information service provider through print and digital media, primarily in California and Arizona. Well-known brands include The Los Angeles Daily Journal, Daily Commerce, The San Francisco Daily Journal, The Daily Recorder, The Inter-City Express, The Orange County Reporter, Business Journal, and The Record Reporter.
Who Owns the Wall Street Journal?
The Wall Street Journal was owned by Dow Jones Co., which was purchased by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. in 2007.
What Is the Daily Readership for The New York Times?
According to its website, The New York Times boasts over 10 million paid subscriptions across its digital and print publications. Its digital platforms average 123 million monthly visitors while its print editions reach more than 8.2 million adults.
What Was the First Newspaper?
The world’s oldest print newspaper is often attributed to the German-language Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien (roughly translated as “relation of all princes and memorable histories”), which was first printed in 1605.
America’s first independent newspaper, the New England Courant, was published by Benjamin Franklin’s older brother in 1721. By the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775, there were 37 independent newspapers to keep the colonists informed. America’s first daily newspaper was the Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser, which began publication on September 21, 1784.
The Bottom Line
Like other industries, the news media has had to rethink the way it operates. Broadcast companies can’t just get by on TV and radio news while print publications have to think beyond the written word. That’s why many news media companies have diversified, especially in the age of the internet. The list in this article highlights some of the key players in the industry that successfully expanded their businesses to meet the ever-changing needs of the consumer.
