*Through Nov. 11, 2001; based on domestic box-office receipts Source: Variety, "WB Heats Up Market Share Race," Nov. 19, 2001

America Online came into existence in 1985; Time Inc. and Warner Bros. -- the precursors to Time Warner -- were both created more than six decades earlier, in 1922. The January 2001 $106-billion merger between America Online and Time Warner was the largest media merger in history, combining hundreds of powerful media assets under one roof.

Production/Distribution		Tickets/Reservations		Video		Merchandise
Warner Brothers Studios Castle Rock Entertainment New Line Cinema Fine Line Features		AOL MovieFone		Warner Home Video		Warner Bros. Consumer Products/ Warner Bros. Licensing

At one time, MGM was the darling of Hollywood, home to legends such as Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg. In the past few decades, however, it has seen several owners come and go. Still, it holds 4,100 titles in its film library, and there have been reports that an MGM renaissance is under way.

Production/Distribution		Video		Merchandise
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Orion Pictures United Artists Pictures Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distribution		MGM Home Entertainment		MGM Interactive MGM Consumer Products MGM Music

Rupert Murdoch's global empire began in 1952, when he inherited two Australian newspapers from his father. Now his company owns diverse properties such as the Los Angeles Dodgers and HarperCollins Publishers. News Corporation bought Twentieth Century Fox in 1985.

Production/Distribution		Video		Merchandise
Twentieth Century Fox Fox 2000 Pictures Blue Sky Studios Fox Searchlight Pictures New Regency Productions (partial ownership)		Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment International		Twentieth Century Fox Licensing and Merchandising

Japan-based Sony Corporation started in 1946 as Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering, with three employees. Now, it boasts more than 180,000 employees worldwide and over $58 billion in sales for 2001. It has more than 1,000 subsidiaries worldwide, many of them key media properties.

Production/Distribution		Theater Operations		Video		Merchandise
Sony Pictures Entertainment Columbia Pictures Sony Pictures Classics Screen Gems TriStar Pictures Columbia TriStar Films (U.K.) Columbia TriStar Film Distributors Sony Pictures Imageworks (animation) Sony Pictures Studios		Loews Theatres (partial ownership) Star Theatres (partial ownership) Cineplex Odeon (partial ownership) Plitt Theatres (partial ownership) RKO Century Warner Theatres (partial ownership) Walter Reade Theatres (partial ownership)		Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment Columbia House Video & Disc Club (joint venture with AOL Time Warner)		Sony Pictures Consumer Products

Sumner Redstone's Viacom is the third largest media conglomerate, behind AOL Time Warner and Disney. Not only does Viacom house a major studio, it also owns movie theaters (1,700 of them in 13 countries) and has an 82-percent stake in Blockbuster, the No. 1 video-rental chain.

Production/Distribution		Theater Operations		Video Distribution/Stores		Merchandise
Paramount Pictures Paramount Classics Films Paramount S.A. (France) Paramount Pictures International		United Cinemas International (joint venture with Vivendi Universal) United International Pictures (partial ownership) Paramount Theaters Famous Players (Canada) National Amusements (owned by Chairman Sumner Redstone's family)		Paramount Home Entertainment Blockbuster Video		Famous Music Publishing (soundtracks)

In 2000, Vivendi acquired Canada's Seagram, which owned Universal Studios, to form Vivendi Universal. Last year, U.S. box-office revenues for Universal topped $1 billion for the first time. (It was second to Disney, whose pictures earned only $12 million more than Universal's at the box office.) Through its 42-percent ownership of USA Networks, Vivendi also has interests in October Films and TicketMaster.

Production/Distribution		Tickets/Reservations		Video		Merchandise
Universal Studios October Films (partial owner) Gramercy Pictures (partial owner) United International Pictures (partial owner) Cinema International BV (partial owner) Universal Studios Distributing Cinema International Corp.		Ticketmaster, TicketWeb (through partial ownership of USA Networks, which owns Ticketmaster)		Paramount Home Entertainment Universal Video & Music Distribution Universal Studios Home Video		MCA/Universal Merchandising Merchandising Corp. of America

Disney Brothers Studio produced its first animated feature film, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves," in 1937. Today, the Walt Disney Company is the second largest media conglomerate in the world behind AOL Time Warner. And for the last three years (1998-2000), Disney's pictures have brought in the most revenues at the domestic box office; last year alone, Disney's studios generated more than $1.1 billion in ticket sales.

Production/Distribution		Video		Merchandise		Online
Walt Disney Pictures Touchstone Pictures Hollywood Pictures Caravan Pictures Miramax Films Buena Vista Pictures Distribution Buena Vista International Walt Disney Feature Animation		Buena Vista Home Entertainment		Walt Disney Consumer Products		movies.com

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