Concentration, Voices Diversity and Competition in the Media Market

Media companies are exposed to a constant process of change, due to important observable modifications within its sphere of influence. In this scenario of profound change, exist side by side potential threats and opportunities that create great challenges for everyone involved in the media market, including consumers, advertisers, medium business undertakers and responsible for regulating the sector. This book focuses on the issue of concentration of ownership and pluralism of the media, presenting theories and practical bases for analyzing ownership concentration and pluralism in the media in Europe and in Portugal, as well as identifying possible paths for studies to be conducted in the future to broaden the scope of the search or consider complementary empirical methodologies on this issue. “Media concentration is a consequential concern in this era of transnational conglomeration and platform convergence because it is an essential factor determining the scale and scope of competition and degrees of pluralism in media ownership and in content provision.” Gregory Ferrell Lowe, President of the European Media Management Association “Understanding media structures is crucial to decisions about policy involving democratic and cultural needs of countries. It is also important for understanding how developments in media technology are changing the media environment and the ownership and control of media and their required infrastructures. This book explores both national and European approaches to the issues of media structure and media pluralism, adding new knowledge and perspectives to the debate.” Robert G. Picard, Reuters Institute, University of Oxford