With the increased public worry over bias in the media, it is often instructive to know who is behind some of the largest media conglomerates in the country. For this purpose, let's take a look at the top five cable companies in the United States (as of 2009), and peek behind the curtain. All of these companies are publicly owned to one degree or another, but we can still look at their boards, subsidiaries and histories for information.
Comcast
At the time of this writing, Comcast Cable is the most popular and widespread cable company in the United States. Wholly owned by the public, this company reaches almost 25 million customers, and employs over 100,000 people. Their headquarters are in Philadelphia. A look at their board of directors sees the concept of direct interlocking on display. Five of their members also serve on the boards of other companies. For instance, Michael Armstrong sits on both the board for Comcast and the board of directors for Citigroup.
Time Warner
Time Warner Cable has long been a subsidiary of Time Warner, the corporate media giant. They began in 1989, when the company was under the direct supervision of Ted Turner. In later years, the company went public and eventually merged with America Online to become AOL/Time Warner. Time Warner--the cable company--is now separate from its corporate beginnings, and is wholly owned by the public. They also own the high speed Internet company, Road Runner.
Cox Communications
Of the five cable companies listed in this article, Cox Communications is the only one that is still largely private. It is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises and is controlled on a 98 percent margin by Anne Cox Chambers, the granddaughter of Cox founder, James Middleton Cox. With 5.9 million customers, Cox is the third largest cable company in the U.S., and its corporate umbrella also encompasses many newspapers, including the Dayton Daily News and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Charter Communications
Charter Communications was founded in 1993, and it is publicly owned and traded. Because of intense financial difficulties, the company has begun to merge with Midcontinent Communications. It has also been reported that some pieces of Charter will go to Comcast in Minnesota. In January of 2009, Charter began filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the hopes of sustaining themselves through the future. Analysts, however, predict that this move may turn into a Chapter 7 filing, possibly paving the way for the end of Charter Communications.
Cablevision
Cablevision is the 5th most widespread cable company in the United States, with a large percentage of its customers living in the Northeast, including New York and New Jersey. Though publicly owned, there have been several recent attempts to take the company private, most notably by the Dolan family, which owns a high percentage of the stock. Cablevision trades on the New York Stock Exchange and owns Optimum Online Internet and Clearview Cinemas.
