Tech streaming companies dominate top 10 positions in Brand Finance’s ranking

Brand Finance’s ranking over the years noted how broadcast media organizations gradually dropped out of the ranking with tech streaming companies taking over.

Broadcast media dominated the ranking which was first published in 2015 with Walt Disney taking first position, ahead of other notable broadcast platforms like Fox, NBC, TimeWarner and CBS.

According to the 2024 ranking, nine out of the 10 most valuable brands focus more on the distribution of user-generated or third-party content rather than broadcasting which was the major focus of the broadcast organizations.

These media brands concentrated more in making video, television and radio content, a development which has significantly changed in the 2024 ranking with nine of the ten most valuable brands shunning outright broadcasting, but now transmitting directly to individuals through the distribution of user-created media.

A major strike in the Hollywood entertainment industry in 2023 grossly affected the sector leading to huge downtime in the broadcast industry. Daytime and late-night talk-shows went off-air with many TV series ending abruptly plus delays for TV shows and films planned for 2024.

Major US TV networks also experienced a significant decline in both revenue and brand strength, with CBS’s brand value plummeting by 28% to $5.3 billion and Fox’s by 26% to $7.4 billion. Similarly, UK-based networks have also been affected, with Sky’s brand value dropping by over 19% to $8.4 billion and ITV’s by 19% to $1.9 billion.

Forbes noted that unlike the broadcast industry, tech companies utilized consumer intelligence from their users which ran into billions which they used to generate bespoke campaigns for advertisers.

The Brand Finance’s top 10 world’s most valuable media brands with their respective valuations for 2023, and 2024 are presented below;

The US dominated the top ten ranking with seven companies while China complete the ranking with three companies.

Google maintained its position as the most valuable media brand for the fourth consecutive year increasing by 19% from $281 billion in 2023, to $333.4 billion. TikTok also jumped by 28% from $66billion in 2023, to $84.2 billion.

Facebook came in third position with its brand value up 28% to $75.7 billion and Instagram’s brand value also rose by 48% to $70.4 billion keeping it in fifth position.

The only non-tech company that made it to the top ten position, Disney which operates a streaming channel Disney+, had a decline in its brand value by 6% from $50 billion to $46.7 billion.

A major upset in the 2024 ranking is X’s (formerly Twitter) dropping out of the Media 50 ranking due to a significant decline in brand value (down 83% to $673.3 million) and ad revenue (down from $1 billion to $600 million per quarter).