1 107 The Political Economy of Media Deregulation and Emerging Ownership Patterns in Nigeria OJOMO, Olusegun W. & AJILORE, Kolade Abstract It is a truism that the structure of media ownership in any society is always shaped by the socio-political and economic realities of the host states. In view of this, the authors explored how Nigerian media history, especially the deregulated regime, has conditioned the emergence of a new pattern of media ownership. The authors submit that the emergent pattern of ownership has altered the geopolitical pendulum of media power in favour of the South-South region of Nigeria where the agitation for political power had been strident. This deregulated atmosphere has also created a new set of political elites with vested interests in media ownership. Introduction The subject of media ownership as it relates to several other subjects has and will continue to occupy a prime place in media academic literature. This is because it is difficult to discuss a structure without relating such discussion with the owners or definers of such a structure. Our goal in this paper is to examine how the deregulation of the media industry in Nigeria has led to the creation of new types of media owners. As would be predicted, these genres of ownership may not be absolutely new when compared to media ownership patterns in other nations, but we shall attempt to acknowledge their existence and where possible identify any characteristics that may be peculiar to them. More specifically, we shall attempt to locate current ownership patterns as reflections of Nigeria’s political conditions. A Thumbnail History of Media in Nigeria The origin of the Nigerian mass media can be traced to Reverend Henry OJOMO, Olusegun W. & Ajilore, Kolade are lecturers in the department of Mass Communication, Babcock University, Ogun State, Nigeria. Africa Journalism and Communication Review(AJMR), Volume 1, Number 3, June, 2012, Pp. 108-118