Media Conglomeration, Local News, and Capital Market Consequences

Travis Dyer (), Mark Lang () and Jun Oh ()
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Travis Dyer: Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84606
Mark Lang: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
Jun Oh: Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907

Management Science, 2025, vol. 71, issue 8, 6602-6626

Abstract: We examine the effect of news media consolidation on local business coverage and its consequences for firms, investors, and capital markets. Using television transcripts, we find a substantial drop in coverage of local firms following the consolidation of local television stations associated with Sinclair acquisitions. Local information search, institutional portfolio local bias, and overall retail trading decrease for firms in treated geographic areas. Results are most pronounced for small firms, for stations with higher ex ante viewership, and for stations with greater reductions in local coverage. Our results provide insight into the consequences of media consolidation for local business coverage, firms, investors, and capital markets.

Keywords: media conglomeration; local news; local bias; investor geography (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:71:y:2025:i:8:p:6602-6626

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