The Best Big Media Companies to Work For
Last update: 3 November 2023 at 10:07 am
1.00/5The media industry is powered by creativity and justified by the consumer demand for entertainment. There are sub-industries within, that range from artistic to technical. The scene is dynamic and varied.
While the term ‘media’ may cover many aspects, we generally think of it as screenplay, music, and news productions. These are the prominent bastions within the industry.
The best media companies from a consumer perspective are the biggest on the scene and are often composed of other smaller brands. These empires are segregated at production levels and usually keep their names even though they have changed ownership.
Popular opinion is that big media companies are the best to work for. The processes in large organisations are usually rigid, focusing more on dealing with more significant workforces rather than individuals.
Standardised protocols control career growth in a setting like this. These filter through candidates shortlisting potential. At nonmanagerial levels, it can be quite a dehumanised process.
What is a Media Company
A media company, by definition, is a provider of broadcasting, film, and internet-based services. The advent of digital user-based technology is redefining the industry. The use of traditional fixed TV scheduling and on-paper productions are decreasing. Consumer trends are veering in the direction of digitised options instead.
The industry in its current form follows a business model based on communication, aggregation, and distribution of data in digestible formats.
Examples of these are film and entertainment made available to large audiences. The consumers of this media have access to the latter through different forms. However, the internet is always the favoured access point.
The advent of smart device technology and easy internet access has empowered the individual. The availability of self-help software allows people to create their media. To adjust to this new trend, companies now focus on self-help applications and refinement services for material produced by users.
Traditional Media Industries
The most common forms of media can be broken down into 11 subsections:
If you are looking for a media agency to work with, check out some of ours here at Sortlist.
10 Best Media Companies to Work for
Here we review the ten biggest media companies in the market. Bear in mind that no matter how well-known a company is, it will always have both pros and cons.
TWDC Enterprises 18 Corp.
The Walt Disney Corporation is the world’s most extensive media bastions, its roots running deep. The company owns a wide variety of assets which encompasses movies, publications, and theme parks. Furthermore, the Disney/ABC television group has a network of more than 10 TV stations as well as portfolio cable TV stations. Did you know that Disney is an 80% Shareholder in ESPN?
Of the best media companies to work for, TWDC is the most expansive.
An estimated 200,000 people hold down jobs for this franchise. The ratings give mixed scores and opinions. We can tell from reviews that 50% of employees feel the work-life balance is healthy. These are positive metrics.
Walt Disney hires the services of many freelancers and has a supportive working environment making the conditions pleasing.
TWDC offers internships for college students and graduates. These programs embrace subjects ranging from the story and visual development to production management and post-production. Most of the work is limited to one area of Disney’s studio, but mentors delegate a wide variety of assignments.
The latter helps both the corporation and the intern. Disney uses this mechanism as a means to scout for potential. The student, on the other hand, gets an opportunity to see what his or her future work environment will be like on that career path.
The general approval rating for Disney as an employer is 80%, and 81% of its workforce approve of the company CEO Bob Chapek. It’s a good score, but then again, we all know Disney for its magic.
TFCF Corporation
Twenty-First Century Fox Corporation (now divided between Disney and FOX) is the world’s most diverse and creative network. Its media interests extend to, book, television, newspaper, and film publications.
Fox operates and owns a portfolio of movie cable and satellite assets. It, in turn, is owned by the panoptic Walt Disney.
The company has a workforce of 21,700 people and employs in the US, The UK, and Australia.
Under the direction of Stacey Snider, this media company got an 80% rating from its employees. Of late there seem to be less favourable opinions. It comes with the change of ownership in April 2019.
Warner Media LLC
Previously known as Time Warner, the corporation owns HBO, Cinemax, Turner, and Warner Bros. The news networks belonging to the group are CNN, TBS, and TNT. The conglomerate was bought over in 2018 and had since been operating under AT&T. The media company’s holdings include many big studios in broadcasting.
It fills 25,000 job positions and the working experience rating for Warner LLC is 78%, with 94% CEO approval. The positive business outlook of the company was a dubious 51%. Speculation is, it may have been an influencing factor to sell.
NB the new associate director at Warner replied to reviews on Indeed on the 7th January Saying that Warner is no more. The latter comes in the wake of the AT&T acquisition. The director also mentioned new applicants should bear this in mind when applying.
NBCUniversal Media LLC
NBC has more than 200 affiliate stations and owns ten of them. Its portfolio consists of the assets; Telemundo, Bravo, E! Entertainment, SYFY, Oxygen, US Network, and USNBC. Theme parks in the US, Japan, and Singapore add to their collection. As determined by its ratings, it’s one of the best media companies to work for.
The fields of opportunity here are expansive.
This company employs over 10,000 people and has a relatively good rating by its employees. CEO Jeff Shell also seems to be well-liked as he gets 96% approval from his workers.
Directv Group Holdings LLC
Directv Group is a notably prominent American-based company, and while it’s made it to the rating systems, there is not much data to go on. The firm itself generated about 6.81 billion USD in the year 2018 and happens to be a subsidiary of AT&T. It serves a global market and produces entertainment-based demand for the masses. In America alone, it entertains 20 million people.
The company employs almost 32,000 employees. The employees rating of the company is an average of 80%. Its sales department is said to have high expectations to the point where it’s unrealistic. Workers in this division of the company say that the work environment can be stressful.
Viacom CBS
Viacom creates entertainment for clientele across the world. It produces media through films and TV. It drives iconic brands like Paramount Pictures, CBS, Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, Comedy Central, CBS all Access, Pluto TV, and Simon and Schuster. The content provided by the company is available in more than 180 countries and competes with Netflix NBCUniversal and Warner media.
Over 10,000 individuals have jobs in this broadcasting business. The company itself gets an average rating of 72% on known review platforms. From the scores, it appears that more people have good experiences here than bad and thus render positive feedback. CEO Robert Bakish seems to be well-liked, and general reviews give him an 86% rating.
National Amusements Inc.
This company has humble beginnings. It started as a small drive-in theatre and is now at a point where it controls over 70% of companies like CBS Corporation and Viacom. Sumner Redstone is the main shareholder and coincidentally was a chairman at both CBS and Viacom.
National Amusements incorporated is among the largest, but there doesn’t seem to be much love for Sumner Redstone. The theatre company employs over 10,000 people and the ratings from this demographic are low. Redstone only gets a 32% approval rating as the CEO. The company itself scores about 62% from general reviews.
It’s a theatre company- therefore here you will get a related job. Unless you work in management, don’t expect wonderful things to happen. One of the perks mentioned in reviews is the complimentary movie tickets.
ESPN Inc
The name of this company in 1979 was Entertainment and Sports Programming Network. The new name (ESPN) adopted in 1985.
A leading cable network, reaching over 100 million viewers per month. Its broadcasting is available in countries outside of the US too. It’s headquartered in Bristol and co-owned by Disney.
It’s said to have a healthy work environment and is a firm advocate of fairness in the workplace and gives particular focus to issues like disability. The brand also advocates the LGBTQI communities.
James Pitaro is relatively young as far as large companies’ CEOs go. He does seem well-liked, and reviews indicate that the network generally has a pleasant work culture. Overall the ratings are pleasing, the CEO rating is 90%, and ESPN as an employer- rated at about 76%.
The most common vacancy is the production assistant. However, there seem to be mixed opinions from the camp. Many say it’s an excellent out-of-college job and an ideal place to kick start your career. What would help a lot here is if the employee liked sports.
Considering its bearing on social issues and the favourable score, ESPN is one of the best media companies to work for.
News Corporation
News Corporation is a publicly-owned news enterprise that is one of the largest corporations in the world. Its on-paper productions are the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Australia’s Herald Sun, and England’s The Times and The Sun.
What makes the company a monolith is its ownership of the Dow Jones. Factiva Information Services and book publishers HarperCollins also belong to the parent organisation. Its television interests are in Australia where it owns Australian News Channel and the majority of stocks in Foxtel.
What makes it unique is that it’s the first mega-corporation that specialises almost solely in publishing. The company’s weak point seems to be its recruitment process. It doesn’t let you know when your application is unsuccessful. This behaviour is extremely rude, especially if you’ve been called in for more than one interview.
There are cases where employees are happy with the process. Some employees feel the organisation has an excellent work-life balance. Robert Thompson is the CEO, and his approval score is 76%. The general rating for the company is 64%.
In Conclusion
The invention of employer ratings is an excellent tool for the job hunter. It does often seem like the organisations conduct their affairs with an air of impunity; imposing upon the underling as he or she sees fit. Whether or not it’s the case, review companies do well to keep them in check.
It’s crucial when looking at reviews, to realise bad ratings come from personal experience within a company. It’s the repetition of bad reviews that may speak of real issues within the specific organisation. So although we have lined up what we assess as the best media companies to work for in 2024, remember that each experience is unique.
