Who Really Owns The Media In The U.S.?

LIFTED FROM FORBES by Saabira Chaudhuri

If Ron Burkle buys Tribune, he'll join the ranks of the handful of moguls in the U.S. who control the bulk of the nation's media, running everything from newspaper empires to vast cable networks. Some, like the billionaire Cox sisters, whose Cox Enterprises owns the Atlanta Journal-Constitution among many other media properties, keep low profiles. Others, like News Corp. owner Rupert Murdoch, make headlines almost daily. Here's a rundown of America's mega-media magnates--and their political affiliations.

Barbara Cox Anthony And Anne Cox Chambers
America's wealthiest media moguls, worth $12.6 billion apiece at last count, derive their fortune largely from equity in Cox Enterprises, a diversified media company that owns 17 newspapers, 15 television stations, 81 radio stations, plus stakes in cable television, online classifieds and the used-car industry. Chambers is a generous donor for Democratic candidates, having supported John Kerry's failed presidential bid in 2004. (Four years earlier, she donated $25,000 to Al Gore's recount committee.)

Keith Rupert Murdoch
Worth some $8.2 billion, the Australia-born Murdoch controls News Corp., a media powerhouse that boasts television, film, newspaper, magazine and book publishing operations. A naturalized U.S. citizen, Murdoch dove into new media last year when News Corp. paid $580 million to buy social networking site MySpace. Murdoch's subsidiaries have conservative leanings. Yet while Murdoch himself has donated to several Republican candidates over the years, he threw a curve ball at media watchers when he hosted a fundraiser this year for Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.

Samuel Irving Jr. Newhouse And Donald Edward Newhouse
The Newhouse brothers own the privately held Advance Publications, owner of Condé Nast, Parade and Fairchild among others. Besides their massive magazine empire, the duo boast a portfolio of major daily newspapers in over 20 American cities, including the Newark Star-Ledger and The Cleveland Plain Dealer. They also own extensive interests in cable television and new media. The brothers are worth a combined $14.6 billion.

Michael Rubens Bloomberg
The current mayor of New York City, Bloomberg, 64, is worth $5.3 billion thanks to his founding of Bloomberg, the financial information firm whose data terminals are required accessories for hedge funds, private equity shops and investment banks all over the world. Bloomberg is a moderate Republican who supports gay marriage, abortion rights and gun control. Since 2000, New York's billion-dollar political figurehead has reportedly donated $29,200 to 11 Congressional candidates, nine of whom were Republican.

The Hearst Family
William Randolph Hearst is credited with launching the family's publishing empire in 1887 when he assumed control of the San Francisco Examiner from his wealthy father. Today, Hearst Corporation is a massive New York-based media conglomerate that owns prominent newspapers, magazines and broadcast systems. George Hearst Jr., the company's chairman and grandson of William Randolph Hearst, is a regular contributor to the Republican National Committee. All told, the Hearst family fortune is worth in excess of $8 billion.

Sumner Redstone
The 83-year-old media baron lords over Viacom (Paramount Pictures, MTV Networks) and CBS (UPN, Infinity Broadcasting). Hoping for a rebound in the movie business, Redstone bought DreamWorks' live-action studio for $1.5 billion in February. Today, the son of a drive-in theater owner controls 1,400 movie screens and boasts an estimated net worth of over $7.7 billion. In 2004, Redstone, who once declared himself a "liberal Democrat," dropped a minor bombshell on the nation's political community by announcing his support of President George W. Bush, allegedly because a Republican administration would be better for Viacom.

Haim Saban
Haim Saban, the Egyptian-born, Israeli-raised U.S. resident, built his $2.8 billion fortune on the back of the hugely popular kids show Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Saban, along with a consortium of private equity groups, recently agreed to purchase the Spanish-language broadcaster Univision for $13.7 billion. (Univision shareholders have since filed suit to block the sale.) While Saban has donated to Republican candidates, including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, he recently announced that he would support a 2008 presidential bid by New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.