Who Owns the Media?

I was shocked to find out how few media conglomerations control so many of the channels and shows that are currently on television. Disney, for example, owns Disney Chanel, Lifetime, and ABC - to name only a few. With this in mind, I thought back to one of my favorite shows growing up: Boy Meets World. Boy Meets World played on both Disney Channel and ABC family, and I remember hearing in an interview once that there were certain episodes that Disney Chanel would not play, due to more adult content. ABC Family, on the other hand, had no problem playing these episodes. I did a little research and found out that what I remembered was true - there were at least 3 episodes that Disney Chanel deemed too mature to show, yet ABC family aired each one.

This is interesting to me, because Disney owns both Disney Chanel and ABC Family, so why would they feel some themes were fit for one channel and not another? It seems that Disney wants to put forth a squeaky clean image, free of any topics related to sex, drugs, or alcohol. But for ABC Family, (which, as the name suggests, is still very family friendly) the corporation is a little more lenient.