In 2023, Walt Disney Company was the largest media company worldwide, with a market value of 183 billion U.S. dollars. In second place was Comcast Corporation with a market value of 170 billion U.S. dollars, followed by Charter Communications, Inc. at 53 billion U.S. dollars.
Spotlight: Disney’s ever strong presence
Not only is Disney a household name loved for its merchandise, theme parks, and near timeless appeal, it is also one of the most valuable media brands in the world. Despite the death of Walt Disney in 1966, the company went from strength to strength and kept up with the pace of every fast-moving market of which it is a part, with the most recent addition being streaming service Disney+. The Walt Disney Company has multiple assets, and its entertainment holdings include Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox, Pixar, and ESPN Inc. These are indisputably Disney’s biggest money makers, as the media and entertainment segment accounts for 65 percent of the total.
Spotlight: Comcast competing for customers
Comcast, the owner of such entertainment brands as NBCUniversal, Sky, DreamWorks, and Universal Studios, generates the largest share of its revenue from its cable communications segment, at more than 53 percent. However, the growth of the video streaming market and the subsequent increase in cord-cutting in the United States is directly impacting the subscriptions of most companies and Comcast is no stranger to this trend. Since 2018, the company has seen losses in video subscribers intensify year-on-year. Comcast’s ad-supported streaming service, Xumo, competes with Roku, Pluto, and Plex for the number of channels offered to stay in the game and attract consumers.
