Comcast and Walt Disney Co. are indeed the heavyweights of the entertainment world, with a combined market cap currently of more than $300 billion. But these stocks are not without huge risks to investors as the future of cable TV remains in question.

For Disney DIS, -1.22% , the risk of declining revenue in its once-bulletproof ESPN sports business has been a big source of negativity lately. And for Comcast CMCSA, -0.70% , it’s move to acquire family-friendly movie studio Dreamworks Animation SKG US:DWA would give it a catalog of titles that include the Minions, Shrek and Madagascar franchises. But time will tell whether stability in video subscribers will persist or if Comcast will continue to slowly bleed out.

Hollywood's summer box office looks uncertain

If you’re looking to invest in media right now, it could be much more profitable to focus on the companies with the best future growth potential instead of those with the largest market value. Here are three companies with dominant platforms and distribution models that will reshape the ways consumers are entertained in a digital age:

Facebook

Facebook Inc. FB, -0.89% is a market darling right now because of an impressive earnings report that sent shares of the social media company to new all-time highs. But in addition to being a current darling of many tech investors, Facebook stock should be at the top of any list of media companies you want to own.

That’s because the struggles of digital native Alphabet Inc. GOOG, -2.37% lately are in sharp contrast to the success of Facebook, which has learned how to connect with consumers and advertisers quite successfully. The fact that Facebook is doing this even as it continues a seamless migration into mobile and video makes the company even more impressive, and is an indicator of things to come.

Facebook may never get into original programming, but it clearly is interested in being the medium that provides video entertainment. That’s evidenced by both its $2 billion acquisition of Oculus VR in 2014 as well as the mission to make 2016 “the year of livestreaming.”

Remember, just last year Facebook announced it would be hosting news content from publishers. It’s hardly a stretch to think that soon it could be doing the same for sitcoms and live sports.

The fact that Facebook is not a content company but a distribution network means it need not worry about consumer tastes. Facebook just has to meet media consumers where they are — something it already knows how to do.

Netflix

Investors have been focused on the recent slowdown in Netflix Inc. NFLX, -0.05% subscriber growth. But beyond the swing-trading prospects of this momentum stock, it’s important to acknowledge that Netflix remains the gold standard of video streaming — and as such, commands an enviable position in the future of digital entertainment and media.

It’s not just first-mover advantage propping up Netflix — consider that in the first-quarter of 2014, the company had around 48.4 million total streaming memberships; it finished the first-quarter of 2016 with 81.5 million customers. That’s a 68% growth rate, even in the face of serious competition from Hulu, HBO Go and Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, -1.78% .

Say what you want about the pace of growth, but the fact that Netflix has 81.5 million customers and growing is a compelling reason to invest in this company long-term. By contrast, Comcast had just 22.3 million paying video customers at the end of 2015 — and is struggling to keep that smaller number constant.

Netflix gets a lot of press for its push into original programming, but the bigger story regarding is its increasing status as the streaming video platform of choice. As with Facebook, once you have users, the rest will take care of itself, regardless of short-term volatility.

Apple

Apple Inc. AAPL, -3.17% isn’t a true media company nowadays, considering how the majority of its revenue comes from iPhones and how much investors are captivated by Apple’s current hardware challenges.

However, if you agree that the disruptive nature of digital distribution has complicated life for traditional media companies, then you should also agree that Apple is at the core of that trend.

Apple’s plan is to leverage its hardware platform into secondary services, from mobile payments to accessories to media.

Apple’s content arms include iTunes, Apple Music and iBooks. These businesses aren’t broken out individually, but Apple’s “Services” segment that includes these content arms just tallied almost $6 billion in revenue in the latest quarter — up 20% from the first-quarter of 2015, making Services a bigger top-line business than either the iPad or Mac segments. In fact, it’s the second-largest segment for Apple behind only the iPhone unit, and good for almost 12% of total sales.

Clearly, iPhone users are watching TV shows they downloaded via iTunes, streaming the latest pop songs on Apple Music, and reading e-books they purchased via iBooks.

Apple may not be the best stock right now given that its current business is so largely driven by the iPhone, and likely will be for the next few years. But if growth continues in this Services segment and the big reach of the iPhone persists, Apple may indeed become a leading player in the world of mobile media as well as the world of mobile hardware.