This dissertation investigates the nature of Korean media giants among members of Asian media conglomerates in the era of media marketization. Since the 1980s, each state in Asia has adopted neoliberal media laws and policies that have made its media systems more market-driven. This neoliberal media reform led to the restructuring of media systems from state-controlled systems to profit-oriented ones and facilitating the emergence of Asian media conglomerates. However, scholarship on the nature of Asian media giants has been sparse in critical media studies. Thus, I conduct a case study to explore the nature of Asian media giants with a focus on the interplay between media ownership and media markets in order to determine the major beneficiaries of Asian media marketization. I focus on the three Korean media conglomerates of Samsung, CJ and JoongAng Ilbo groups during the period from 1998 to 2012 when the Korean state applied the neoliberal media mode to the Korean media systems. Utilizing the theoretical approach of political economy of communication, I examine three points: (1) the relationship between the era of neoliberal media and the structures of four media markets (e.g., advertising, daily newspaper, cable television and film); (2) the interconnections among media expansions, media ownership and informal ties (e.g., blood and marriage ties); and (3) the relationship between the changed structures of those four media markets and corporate censorship of the three chaebol groups. To address these questions, I used both institutional and corporate profiling techniques and then analyzed both governmental and secondary documents, including those covering structures of media markets, media ownership, boards of directors, media expansions and emergent issues in the information and entertainment markets. Consequently, my analysis finds that neoliberal media laws and policies led to forming centralized market structures controlled by chaebol groups with connections to Western media conglomerates and/or foreign capital. Also, I find that the Lee family members used family connections to expand their media businesses and control multiple media operations, thereby becoming the media emperor in Korea. Finally, my analysis shows that a media-oriented ideology has rarely guaranteed free competition among market players but has instead led to increasing the market polarization between a few market controllers and many independent media companies. In other words, my study indicates that the neoliberal media mode allowed family capitalists in Korea with foreign capital to control the structures of media markets.

90年代各國政府對媒體的解除管制（deregulation）、傳播媒體集團間合作策略日興、逐漸形成媒體集團，加上新媒介技術的發展（光纖和衛星技術的發展），為跨國媒體的市場版圖拓展提供了有利條件，在市場機能的運作的背景下，全球的電信業自由化影響台灣電訊傳播民營化，因應全球化、自由化的浪潮，以及市場開放趨勢，全球主要知名頻道紛紛佔據台灣市場，例如CNN、HBO、DISCOVERY頻道、國家地理頻道、ESPN、STAR TV、Disney等。跨國媒體集團在台灣除了經營大眾娛樂的頻道之外，另一類受到觀眾喜愛的「特定類型頻道」為「紀實娛樂」（nonfiction entertainment）頻道。 2006年台灣地區跨國媒體集團共經營43個頻道，根據行政院新聞局所做的「最受歡迎頻道」調查顯示，台灣地區外國頻道中最受歡迎的前三名分別是HBO、Discovery頻道、國家地理頻道（新聞局，2005；54），HBO以電影播放為主，而Discovery頻道與國家地理頻道同屬休閒社教類節目。兩者又以Discovery頻道近年來致力於本土化經營的成績較為顯著，似可觀察其「節目在地化」階段性的策略演變。 本研究鎖定Discovery頻道這一特殊節目類型的跨國媒體集團在台灣的經營與發展為研究主題，深入了解該跨國頻道在全球化的時代中，如何迎合輸入國觀眾的喜好、擴大市場佔有率，分析該媒體集團在全球化時代的「全球在地化」經營模式，並透過節目製作公式，深入其在地化歷程；同時，本研究亦分析當地政府機構的介入與其經營策略的關係及影響。 研究發現跨國媒體進入本地市場之後，就節目產製與在地的營運的方式而言，必須考量全球化的佈局、在地的業務運作及節目製播兩方面的需求。Discovery集團透過全球媒體市場的考量，以在地發展模式加深了全球與在地的交互融合、互相滲透，本研究案例Discovery能夠透過「全球節目公式，在地產製內容」在本地產生其影響力、獲取利潤，以在地的力量（人才、資金、技術、文化）達到「文化接近性」的認同，更在「去地化」與「再地化」的概念下，實踐全球與在地的連結，並邁向「去再地」的發展階段。 承上，本研究設定跨國媒體集團為討論範圍，欲探討跨國媒體集團—面對變化所因應的策略，以Discovery傳播集團為探討個案，希望歸納出其「全球在地化」經營策略， 探討Discovery頻道在台灣之在地化策略實踐成效。 / This research is for the purpose of discussing Nonfiction Entertainment channel –Discovery, its management achievements, the history of localization of programming, the characteristic of arrangement of program telecast, and how the channel cooperate with locally produce productation teams. This research adopts the globalize vision, to analyze and inspect the characteristic of the 12 years on the foreign own channel –Discovery. This study shows that the Discovery channel’s Taiwan's management achievements are related to the channel’s strategy on global localization. The strategy not only affects the channel’s penetration rate and steady growth of advertisement income, this strategy also affect in programming and business practice. The whole says, Discovery’s localization is under the pattern development of "global management, international vision, and local viewpoint.” Its program characteristic is mostly base on traveling program taking from the headquarters supply. Program of subjects about Americas region and Asian region are equal. There are three types of Taiwanese subject programs; they are provided by cooperate, joint venture or outside production. Joint venture productions are growing rapidly, almost match the number of cooperate provide programs. The research also discovered that, the Discovery channel’s evolution of localize program productions are achieved gradually. In the produces system, manufacture management, the program quality, the narrative way, and the image style must conform to its program formula. Although the local responses are intense, it also has its gain after adjustment.