The Reconstruction of the Global Media Marketplace

In: Communication research, Band 19, Heft 6, S. 705-723

Abstract

This article reviews the changing role of the U.S. media in the global media marketplace. Where once U.S. firms held international competitive advantage in the media industry, a number of developments—economic recession, global media mergers and acquisitions, legal and cultural import barriers in the European Community and Japan, and strategic miscalculations by U.S. media firms—have helped erode that competitive advantage. This article argues that for the United States to reclaim its dominance in the contemporary global media marketplace, firms need to adopt cooperative business strategies, such as the formation of joint alliances. Examples of successful alliances are reviewed.