ZenithOptimedia: Chinese Companies Enter Top 30 Global Media Owners

LONDON: CCTV and Baidu are the first Chinese companies to have ever made ZenithOptimedia's Top Thirty Global Media Owners ranking, which this year is led by Google.

Google came in as the world's largest media owner by a solid distance, with revenues that are 47-percent higher than the second-largest, DIRECTV. Google also topped last year's list, but by a 39-percent gap rather than 47 percent. As for the rest of the top 5, DIRECTV remains in second place and Comcast remains in fifth. Disney has overtaken News Corporation to move into third place. This, however, follows News Corp.'s split into two separate operations; one of these, 21st Century Fox, is fourth in the ranking, while the new News Corporation is 12th. Cox Enterprises moved up from eighth to seventh. BSkyB climbed from tenth to eighth. Bertelsmann dropped from seventh to ninth. CBS Corporation moved from ninth to tenth.

CCTV, China's national state TV company, entered the top 30 at number 23, ahead of Facebook. Baidu is at 28, ahead of Microsoft. These two Chinese outfits join Brazil's Globo as the companies based in emerging markets on the list.