Viacom and CBS have both also thrived since the Dow's last 14,198 peak. Since the two companies split up back in 2005, they've both been on a run, hitting new highs. CBS is up more than 40 percent since 2007. Viacom is up about 50 percent since last time the Dow hit a closing peak.
When Viacom and CBS split, Wall Street expected Viacom's cable assets to prove faster-growing, while CBS more traditional TV ad business grew more slowly, but CBS has also has been on fire, bolstered by the addition of retransmission fees, in addition to ad revenue. (Read More: CBS' Moonves Talks 'Transformation' With Digital and Ad Growth)
And even News Corp., despite taking a hit from its struggling publishing business, and the News of the World Scandal, is up more than 20 percent since the last Dow peak.
Content distribution companies have also fared quite well, thanks to growing revenue from selling high-speed broadband, as well as premium services like video-on-demand. Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, which controls CNBC's parent company, NBC Universal, is up about 70 percent since we last saw the Dow's 14,198 intraday high in 2007.
DirecTV shares are up 89 percent since October 2007. The higher end of the two satellite TV companies, it has benefited from special content like NFL Sunday Ticket, and NBA League Pass packages. And DirecTV isn't just in the U.S. — in addition to its 20 million us customer, it has another 12 million in Latin America.
Time Warner Cable, the nation's second largest cable company, hasn't fared so well — it's down almost 10 percent after taking a deep dip in 2009 — accounting for its split from media giant Time Warner. And DISH, the second-largest satellite TV company, has suffered, its shares down about 20 percent since 2007. Both DISH and Time Warner Cable have suffered from growing competition from telecom companies, as well as higher content costs, not to mention the threat of "cord cutting."
