It was claimed the internet would overcome the domination of traditional media by few players as it was easy for new providers to use an existing network to create content for global audiences.
A recent study of media concentration in Australia finds this has not been the case.
The Global Media and Internet Concentration Project (GMICP) Report found the majority of Australia’s media, internet and communication markets are moderately to highly concentrated.
Australia’s media is among the most concentrated in the world, second only to Brazil of nine countries studied.
The report also found the digital sectors to be even more concentrated than traditional media, and Google (Alphabet) and Meta were overtaking the traditional media giants.
The Global Media and Internet Concentration Project is a 40-country study of trends in market concentration and the economic dominance of key players in 15 markets across telecommunications and internet access, online media and traditional media services, and core internet applications.
It aims not only to develop standardised methods for evaluating media concentration trends, but also to address the question of whether the rise of the internet and digital media services is strengthening or weakening traditional patterns of media dominance.
Telstra stands out as Australia’s largest player and is the market leader in multiple telecommunications and internet access segments.
It was until recently the largest player in the fixed broadband (wireline) market but has been surpassed by NBN Co.
Overall, six companies account for 88 per cent of the telco and internet access market.
Concentration levels have increased slightly in broadcast television where the share of the top four companies has grown from 79 per cent in 2019 to 87 per cent in 2022, and in newspapers, where the top four has grown from 78 per cent in 2019 to 84 per cent in 2022.
The most marked shift has been in radio, where the top four companies share has grown from 57 per cent in 2019 to 77 per cent in 2022.
The online area........