Viacom; The power it has over me.

Television. I just cannot get enough of it! When you are watching television though, most of the time you are not thinking “Oh, I wonder which media company owns this station”. At least I do not. However, I have been lately. Sometimes after the credits, it will show which company owns the station, whether it be Time Warner, Disney, Viacom, Bertelsmann, News Corporation, or General Electric/NBC. After paying attention to this, I realized that most of the television stations that I watch are owned by Disney and Viacom. How is that for gate keeping? Because I think I watch more stations produced by Viacom (mostly CBS and MTV) I will focus on that company. Viacom owns many stations that you probably watch on a regular basis and did not even know it. Its properties include CBS, MTV, TNN, VH-1, Nickelodeon, UPN, and Paramount Pictures as its movie studio, along with many more properties. Viacom bought CBS in 1999, and has since grown larger by having two influential broadcasting networks in its grips (CBS and UPN). Sharing programming and expanding a franchise are two synergies that Viacom has brought about. For example, Saturday morning cartoons on Nickelodeon are now run by CBS and since this switch, ratings have increased dramatically. The company has also created movies in cooperation with their television stations. For example, MTV films produced Save the Last Dance in 2001 under the co-production of Viacom and MTV films.
After realizing how much information I consume under one company, it is worrisome. Most all of the information that I receive on a daily basis is controlled by a small group of individuals. And that is a frightening thought, even if it is entertaining.