- MCR report – Billionaires control UK media
- Who are the billionaires and what do they own?
- Local media is far from being local
- Online Tech giant billionaires control what we read
- Broadcast media just as bad as print
- What does the future look like?
Key findings of the MCR report
“Just 3 companies – DMG Media, News UK and Reach – dominate 90% of the UK’s national newspaper market. These same three companies account for more than 40% of the total audience reach of the UK’s top 50 online news brands, giving these publishers an unrivalled position for setting the news agenda.
“71% of the UK’s 1,189 local newspapers are owned by just six companies. The two largest local publishers – Newsquest and Reach – each control a fifth of the local press market, more than the combined share of titles owned by the smallest 173 local publishers.
“10 of the top 15 online platforms used to access news in the UK are owned by Meta, Google and X Corp (owners of X/Twitter). Meta and Google command around four-fifths of all online advertising spend, giving these two tech giants unparalleled power over how online news is found and funded.
“Two companies – Bauer Radio and Global Radio – own 65% of the UK’s local commercial analogue radio stations. Bauer, Global and Wireless Group (owned by publishers News UK) also control more than threequarters of the UK’s national commercial DAB radio market.”
MCR report: Billionaires decide the narrative
A new report from Media Reform Coalition (MRC) has shown that billionaires have more control of corporate UK media than ever before- and it doesn’t look like change is coming anytime soon.
Campaign and research group MRC has published its latest report into media ownership in the UK and says three companies control the mass majority of the press landscape.
The group’s previous analysis was in 2021 and the latest report suggests it has worsened in some areas in the few short years.
The MRC said:
“our updated findings indicate that the endemic crisis of concentrated media ownership in the UK has worsened, with even fewer companies controlling larger shares of the media landscape.“
The MRC found that three companies still control most of the print and online media landscape in the UK. These are:
- Daily Mail Group (DMG) Media – owners of the Daily Mail and MailOnline, Metro, and the iPaper.
- News UK – owners of the Sun and the Times.
- Reach – owners of the Mirror and the Express.
These three companies own a massive 90% of the UK’s national newspapers. They also have 40% of the total audience share of the top 50 online news brands.
It means between them they control most media, it’s their voices across the landscape.
It is also worth reporting that the Russian oligarch Evgeny Lebedev, who owns the Evening Standard, also has the largest shareholding in the Independent.
Who owns the main UK national newspapers?
- The Sun, The Times and The Sun on Sunday are owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.
- The Independent, the i, and The Independent on Sunday are owned by Alexander Lebedev’s Independent Print Limited. The Independent is now online only.
- The Guardian and The Observer are owned by Scott Trust Limited.
- The Daily Mirror, The Sunday Mirror, and The People are owned by Trinity Mirror plc.
- The Daily Express, The Sunday Express, The Daily Star and The Daily Star on Sunday are owned by Richard Desmond’s Northern and Shell.
- The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, are owned by the Barclay Brothers’ Press Holdings.
- The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday are owned by Lord Rothermere’s Daily Mail and General Trust plc.
With Rupert Murdoch, an Australian-born US citizen also owing British media, it’s time to ask why foreign billionaires are allowed to own media in the UK.
It’s time for new laws to be introduced requiring all media owners to be tax residents in the UK.
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UK future looks bleak
Back to the report findings, the MCR report suggests the future looks bleak:
“The forthcoming auction of the Telegraph titles and Spectator magazine risks further reducing the already pitiful diversity of voices in the UK’s national press. With potential bidders including the Daily Mail General Trust and a co-owner of GB News, the sale could merely transfer ownership of these titles from one set of offshore right-wing oligarchs to another.“
Local news far from being local
The report found that six companies control 71% of local outlets.
Reach plc and Newquest own 41.5% of the 1,189 local outlets – around 494 titles.
In April 2022, Reach owned the entire top 10 most-read online local news sites.
The MRC report said of local news:
“Local journalism is in peril, as the collapse of print advertising and persistent job cuts by the largest publishing companies have deprived local communities of news made for and about them. 2.5 million people live in areas without a single local newspaper, and across print and online publishing more and more local titles are being closed or consolidated into generic ‘hub’ websites, producing little to no news in the areas they claim to cover. Despite the launch of a number of independent and hyper-local outlets, the absence of sustainable funding and support for local public interest journalism means the sector remains shackled to the commercial imperatives of a few apathetic publishing giants.“
Online Tech giants control what we read
Not only do a handful of billionaires own the UK media landscape but other billionaires are controlling how we access this corporate news as well.
The online tech giants are controlling what we read. The MCR found that:
“Online intermediaries (OIs) such as social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter), search engines (e.g. Google, Bing), news aggregators (e.g. Google News, Apple News) and video-sharing websites (e.g. YouTube, Vimeo) play a pivotal role in how news content is distributed, curated, discovered and monetised online. 64% of the UK public regularly uses an OI to access news, and many of the most popular online sources are controlled by a handful of global ‘Big Tech’ corporations…10 of the top 15 websites, apps and platforms used to access news are owned by just three companies: Meta, Alphabet and X Corp. Across all UK users who access news online, 72% use services controlled by Meta and 71% use services owned by Alphabet.“
Staggeringly, the MRC overall found that on top of this:
- 40% of people access news via Google or Facebook.
- Google has over 93% of UK search engine use.
- Three out of four internet users are active on social media sites owned by Meta (Facebook) and Alphabet (Google).
Broadcast media just as bad
The report continues to offer up more bleak news. The MRC report found the BBC still dominates our TVs, with a large monthly viewing share.
- BBC at 31.5%
- ITV at 21.4%.
- Sky at 10.9%.
- Channel 4 at 9.6%.
- Channel 5 at 7.3%.
How to stop this madness?!
The MRC said that:
“We want to see independent media that are able to hold power to account and to serve their audiences and the public in general as opposed to shareholders, proprietors or politicians.“
The report says robust regulation, funding for independent media, and action on the monopoly that are already at play in corporate media in the UK.
MRC says:
“At a time of intensifying political instability and widening economic inequalities, we urgently need a programme of genuinely progressive reform aimed at creating a freer, fairer and more accountable media. And if we want to lay the foundations for a media system that serves and represents the full diversity of the UK population, its opinions, its communities, its constituent nations and indeed its divisions, then we need to take action now to curb media power.“
But both Labour and Conservatives work closely with the media so it’s unlikely we’re going to see any real change.
The UK’s media landscape is arguably at the centre of the country’s main problems.
Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers are often cited for playing a major role in the Brexit referendum. Both The Sun and The Times were vocal supporters of Britain leaving the EU, and many believe that their coverage helped sway the public in voting to leave.
Many years ago, journalist Anthony Hilton asked Murdoch why he was so opposed to the European Union.
He replied: “That’s easy. When I go into Downing Street they do what I say; when I go to Brussels they take no notice.”
The media, politicians and billionaires are often in bed with each other. A tiny group of wealthy people control everything – what we think, what we know and what we should care about.
It’s unlikely any of the major newspapers or corporate media companies will report on the findings from MCR – which is of course the point.
It’s hard to see how the media landscape in the country will ever improve – or who will be the one to do it.