Financial crisis and North-South gap within the main media groups in the EU

Abstract

The financial crisis and the economic adjustments within the most important media groups of the European Union (EU) have enlarged the North-South gap regarding financial strength, competitiveness and capitalisation, favouring Center European and UK patterns. The financial results of the 93 biggest media groups and enterprises in the EU provide evidence of not only the pernicious effects of financialization, but also the increase of regional divergences within the EU-28. The Mediterranean countries, which have got the worst results in all of the indicators analysed, are the most exposed to those dangers and confirm the poor advances of the media sector regarding convergence of management and economic solidity, at the expense of their capability to fulfil their social aims. The crisis has strengthened the position of the media groups in the North in front of the weakened South, that already had a greater dependence by its greater exposure to partisan interests. The daily circulation of press in the EU fell from 115.33 million copies distributed in 2008 to 82.54 in 2012, 27.73% less. 64.5% of the major media listed in the EU-28 is concentrated in five countries. 52.7% of the media has significant holdings in financial institutions.