Concentrated Media Leaves Competition Concerns

CONCENTRATED MEDIA LEAVES COMPETITION CONCERNS
[SOURCE: Competition Law 360, AUTHOR: Sara Stefanini]
The series of big takeovers announced this year in the media industry has shed light on the consolidation taking effect across the information services market and signaled that, if given antitrust approval, the mergers could usher in an era in which few leading news providers will dominate the news. Big name news providers Tribune Co., Dow Jones & Co. and Reuters Group PLC have all given in to acquisitions this past year in deals that would narrow the number of competitors in several areas of the media industry, including local and general news markets and the market for quick, high-end financial information. While regulators are weighing distinct questions about each transaction's potential impact on the consumers they serve, the size and timing of these proposals does illustrate how traditional news providers, like Tribune and Dow Jones' Wall Street Journal, have struggled to adapt to an online news era, and how the emerging real-time news providers are growing.
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