From classical media groups to platformization: Evolution and diagnosis in the world of megaconglomerates
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3145/infonomy.26.019Keywords:
Media groups, Conglomerates, Platformization, Big Tech, Deregulation, Digitalization, Cultural industries, Media concentration, Internationalization, Pluralism, Digital sovereigntyAbstract
This article examines the transformation of the global media system from the classic media conglomerates to the current scenario of platformization and Big Tech dominance. Drawing on a diachronic, business‑history perspective and framed within Political Economy of Communication, it analyses the main phases of this process, focusing on horizontal and vertical integration strategies, merger and acquisition cycles, and the evolution of concentration levels. The study combines a review of the specialized literature with a longitudinal design that spans from the deregulation that began in the 1980s to the consolidation of technological megaconglomerates, and incorporates the Spanish case as a specific field of observation. The results help nuance the continuity between the oligopoly of the traditional large groups and current configurations, highlight the role of platforms as new hegemonic infrastructures, and show the difficulties faced by the main Spanish media groups in sustaining competitive positions in an increasingly concentrated environment shaped by global dynamics.
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