• by Wayne Friedman , March 28, 2013

Walt Disney takes the No 1 spot among rankings of top media companies for 2012. Disney posted $42.3 billion in revenue in 2012, up 3.4%, while lifting net income 17.4% to $6.2 billion.

Media researcher SNL Kagan analyzes both total annual revenues and profitability (and losses) when coming up with its list. 

Much of Disney’s gain came from a mega-theatrical hit “The Avengers," even as Disney weathered a major bomb that came with “John Carter.

News Corp. was in second place when it came to revenues: $33.7 billion, inching up 0.9%. But News Corp. took a major hit because of its publishing business, which will be spun off from the company. From all of this, News Corp. witnessed a 51% drop in annual net income to $1.4 billion. All that pushed News Corp. from its position of second place a year ago in the category to eighth place in 2012.

Time Warner was in third place in revenue -- $28.7 billion, down 0.8% -- the same spot on the list as 2011. The company improved its profitability picture -- up 4.6% from 2011 to $3 billion -- which was good for second place behind Disney, up from third place in 2011.

Top 10 revenue leaders after Disney, News Corp., and Time Warner were Omincom Group ($14.2 billion); CBS ($14.1 billion); Viacom ($13.9 billion); Thomson Reuters ($13.3 billion); Liberty Interactive Corp. ($10.0 billion); Interpublic Group of Cos. ($7.0 billion); and CC Media Holdings ($6.3 billion).

Top 10 profitable companies after Disney and Time Warner were Thomson Reuters ($2.1 billion); Viacom ($2.0 billion); Liberty Interactive ($1.59 billion); CBS ($1.57 billion); Liberty Media ($1.412 billion); News Corp. ($1.407 billion); Omnicom ($1.2 billion); and Discovery Communications ($945 million).

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