Which major US media corporations own the most national TV networks and cable news channels?
Executive summary
Comcast (through NBCUniversal) and The Walt Disney Company are consistently identified among the largest U.S. media conglomerates and therefore own the greatest number of national broadcast and cable networks; Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount (now styled “Paramount Skydance” in recent reporting) complete the group of dominant owners [1]. Reporting and industry summaries in 2025–2025 also note Comcast moving many of its cable networks into a planned spin‑out named Versant, which would shift which legal entity technically "owns" networks such as CNBC and MSNBC [2] [3].
1. Giants of the field: who the sources name as the top owners
Analysts and encyclopedia summaries identify Comcast NBCUniversal, The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Skydance as the largest media conglomerates in revenue and as controlling the lion’s share of national TV networks and cable channels in the U.S. [1]. That grouping is framed in the sources as the contemporary “big owners” of broadcast networks, basic and premium cable channels, and major streaming platforms [1].
2. Comcast’s complex footprint and the Versant spin‑out
Comcast is described as the world’s largest media conglomerate by revenue in 2025 and operates NBCUniversal with the NBC broadcast network, Peacock streaming, studios and many cable channels; industry pieces report Comcast plans to spin most cable networks into a new company called Versant by the end of 2025, which would include CNBC, "MS Now" (formerly MSNBC), Syfy, NBCSN, Golf Channel and E! per reporting and listings [2] [3]. That pending reorganization means counting “who owns the most cable channels” depends on timing and whether you treat the new Versant entity as still part of Comcast or as a separate company once the deal closes [2] [3].
3. Disney’s broad portfolio: broadcast plus specialty and sports
The Walt Disney Company is named among the largest conglomerates and is noted to own ABC and a wide set of cable and specialty brands — Disney Channel, FX, National Geographic, Freeform and, via partnership structures, big sports networks including ESPN [2] [1]. Disney’s holdings also include major studios and streaming platforms, which the sources cite when describing its national reach across free‑to‑air, cable and streaming distribution [2].
4. Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Skydance: big catalogs, many channels
Warner Bros. Discovery is cited as owning an “extensive portfolio of cable networks” including the Discovery Channel, TNT, TBS and CNN, and is described as one of the top four conglomerates alongside Comcast, Disney and Paramount Skydance [3] [1]. Paramount Skydance is listed as part of the same quartet of major owners in 2025 reporting, reflecting industry consolidation and the ongoing reshaping of ownership since the early 2020s [1].
5. Why simple rankings are unstable: spin‑outs, mergers and regulatory reviews
Multiple sources stress recent and pending structural changes: Comcast’s Versant spin‑out, Warner Bros. Discovery’s announced business separations, and active FCC reviews of national ownership rules that could alter how many stations or networks one company can control [3] [4] [5]. These dynamics mean any snapshot of “who owns the most networks” can change quickly as companies spin off assets, merge businesses, or respond to regulatory rulings [3] [4] [5].
6. Counting methodology matters: networks vs. stations vs. FAST channels
Public lists and encyclopedias separate broadcast network ownership, cable channel ownership and the fast‑growing FAST/streaming channels and multicast networks; for example, Versant’s acquisition and FAST ambitions, and the emergence of multicast networks owned by groups like Nexstar and Allen Media Group, complicate head‑to‑head counts [6] [7]. Industry players and trade groups also publish competing white papers and filings when arguing for or against ownership‑cap changes, reflecting differing incentives in how counts are presented [8].
7. What the available sources do not provide
Available sources do not provide a single, up‑to‑date numerical ranking that lists exactly how many national cable news channels and networks each major corporation owns on a specific cutoff date; they instead identify the dominant conglomerates and note structural transactions [2] [3] [1]. For a precise count by channel type and ownership as of today, one would need a contemporaneous asset list from each company or a dedicated industry tally not included in the provided reporting (not found in current reporting).
Bottom line: multiple reputable summaries and industry reports point to Comcast/NBCUniversal (subject to the Versant spin‑out), Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Skydance as the corporations that control the most national TV networks and cable channels; exact tallies shift as companies reorganize assets and as regulators review ownership caps [2] [3] [1] [4].