The latest edition of the Euromedia Ownership Monitor (EurOMo) maps over 1,400 media companies and their controlling entities. The search engine allows journalists, regulatory authorities, and the public to track media ownership and control across borders, including information on economic and ultimate owners, as well as key decision-makers, such as CEOs and editors-in-chief. A public webinar in March will introduce the new features.
EurOMo has published an expanded database covering hundreds of influential media companies in all EU countries, with data dating back to 2025. It includes over 700 media companies, 4,300 individuals (owners and other controlling entities), and 2,100 organizations holding stakes in these companies. Users can visually explore the results as a network map, filter by control relationships beyond legal ownership structures, and download machine-readable data that complies with the open standard BODS v0.3.
The full version is available to registered users with a legitimate interest, such as journalists, policymakers, and members of civil society organizations. However, the public version of the project website is freely accessible. In addition to the database, all users can read reports focusing on each country’s specific situation and compare risks across countries using dozens of indicators.
Public Webinar to Introduce EurOMo
A public webinar will be held in March 2026 to introduce the latest version and all new features. There will be two sessions:
- Friday, March 20, 2026, 11:00 a.m. CET
- Monday, March 23, 2026, 3:00 p.m. CET
Those interested can register for one of the sessions via the project website: https://media-ownership.eu/registration-for-webinar/.
The European Commission has funded the project since 2021 with the aim of strengthening media transparency and trust in democratic institutions.
In a Nutshell: What’s New in EurOMo?
- A new network-based search engine: Search results are displayed as a network, which makes it easier to identify connections and chains of control.
- Ultimate/economic owners highlighted by default: The default view shows the “last link in the chain” to identify who ultimately exercises control over media companies and channels.
- Control beyond ownership structures: Users can explore relationships that influence control beyond ownership structures.
Machine-readable, reusable data: Data is available for download in a structured format aligned with BODS v0.3. - Updated risk assessments and country reports: Each country has a narrative report and an assessment of risks to transparency across multiple dimensions.
Results from Germany (Excerpt from the Country Report)
The following paragraphs are excerpted from the Country Report on Germany, which can be found here.
Overall, traditional news sources – press, television, and radio broadcasting – remain significant in the German media landscape. However, legacy outlets continue to struggle against digital competitors. Print media, and local newspapers in particular, face a rapid decline in circulation, with digital services failing to compensate for the losses.
Whereas television and radio broadcasting are shaped by the strong presence of public broadcasting services, print media is characterized by large family-owned media groups. There remains a high degree of concentration in this area, with over 80% of daily-newspaper usage distributed among only 10 large publishing groups. Concentration is even higher in the magazine market, with over 80% distributed among only 5 publishing groups, according to the most recent report of the Commission on Concentration in the Media (KEK). Notably, the private equity firm KKR sold its shares in the major media group Axel Springer SE back to the Springer family and CEO Matthias Döpfner, granting them – particularly Döpfner and Axel Springer’s widow Friede Springer – full ownership of the group.
Unlike print media, public broadcasting services lead the radio and television markets, with audience shares of more than 50% in both sectors (ibid.). Television continues to hold an important position in German media consumption, ranking at the top together with the internet. The remaining television market shares are almost exclusively split between RTL Group – owned by Bertelsmann SE – and ProSiebenSat.1 Media (ibid.). The market power of Bertelsmann SE is especially notable due to its presence across print, television, and online news platforms.
While the relevance of social media for news remained relatively stable over the past years (Newman et al. 2025), especially Instagram and TikTok seem to be exceptions, albeit on a low level in the case of TikTok (Behre et al. 2025). Both platforms are primarily used by a younger audience, whereas others – such as YouTube, Facebook, and WhatsApp – exhibit a more balanced age distribution when it comes to news consumption.
Still, the news supply on these platforms largely consists of extensions of well-known media companies.
The few exceptions of prominent accounts beyond traditional media outlets are some politicians and influencers. Notable figures that promote political content include radical-right leader Alice Weidel and left-wing politician Heidi Reichinnek, both having a presence across the full spectrum of social media channels. Additionally, it is worth mentioning the legal and political news content creator Herr Anwalt, on account of his considerable 7.2 million followers on TikTok.
Country report & data: https://media-ownership.eu/2025-edition/country-reports/germany/
Press Contact
Coordination (EurOMo)
Tales Tomaz (Assistant Professor, Institute of Communication Studies)
University of Salzburg
tales.tomaz@plus.ac.at | Phone: +43 662 8044 4195
Josef Trappel (Full Professor, Institute of Communication Studies)
University of Salzburg
josef.trappel@plus.ac.at | Phone: +43 662 8044 4167