NEW YORK (AP) New wave media consolidation is beginning.
It’s happening in a handful of key sectors.
Comcast is joining a handful other companies that are buying media companies, including Tribune Media, which owns The Associated Press and other news organizations.
Time Warner Inc. and Viacom Inc. are buying Tribune Media and Viasat Communications.
Other new wave acquisitions include a CBS Interactive unit and a news technology unit owned by Time Warner parent CBS Corp.
The consolidation is happening at the intersection of big media and big business, and it’s the latest example of how consolidation and other changes in the media business are creating new opportunities for companies.
New wave media, or the media and entertainment industry that went from being a relatively small business in the 1980s to the Internet era, is expanding rapidly as the digital revolution reshapes the way we consume news, entertainment and more.
It has been a boon for the news industry, which has thrived because it has traditionally focused on big, powerful brands.
But it has also created new opportunities and created challenges.
The rise of digital platforms has made it easier to broadcast and distribute news content and to capture and monetize ad revenue from consumers who prefer to see stories through the eyes of a person rather than a company.
New media companies like The Associated News and Bloomberg LP, which have been bought by NBC Universal and VIA Media, are trying to carve out new roles in that market.
Time Inc., which has bought The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and the Washington Post, is focusing on breaking news.
Comics giant DC Comics is also acquiring the publishing arm of the New York Daily News.
In a separate development, Tribune Media is buying Tribune’s digital news subsidiary, Tribune News.
It also is buying Viasa, a news platform that broadcasts news from across the United States.
TSN’s parent company, Astral Media, is also buying the news company.
The new wave has already started to shape how companies like Comcast, which is one of the biggest players in media, will approach the media industry.
Complexmedia, which produces news content for Comcast’s digital platforms, is getting into the new media business.
It is working with Tribune Media on acquiring Tribune’s media unit, The Associated Media, and VIASAT Communications.
Comixology, a company that produces content for Disney Channel, also is acquiring Tribune Media.
Comms Networks Inc., the parent of The New Yorker and New York magazine, is acquiring Viasats communications company, Viasati Communications.
And Tribune Media has been buying up Tribune-owned newspapers.
Tribune has been building up Tribune’s newspapers and magazines business.
Its holdings include the Chicago Tribune, which recently sold to the Chicago Sun-Times.
The Chicago Tribune also is a part of Time Warner.
Tribunal also owns the Boston Globe.TWC, the parent company of CBS Corp., is getting more aggressive in its media and news operations.
Tucker Carlson, a Fox News host and the host of the morning show Tucker Carlson Tonight, has bought Time Inc.’s newspapers and magazine business and is investing heavily in news organizations like The New Republic, The Washington Post and the Associated Press.
Carlson is also trying to get more news into the homes of consumers.
Travis Kalanick, chief executive of Uber, is buying the taxi service Lyft, the ride-hailing service that has been gaining traction in some markets.
Kalanicky plans to invest in news and other media.
Uber CEO Travis Kalanicks investment in Lyft will be invested in the news and news media, including the New Republic and The Washington Times, he said at a press conference last week.