At a point where the Internet has established itself as a mass medium examening large media companies can bring up valuable information: What are the typical responses of companies? Do their Internet ventures follow certain patterns? Which Internet activities proved to be successful and lasting? Of course, it would also be possible to answer questions of these types by looking at companies in other industries. But because of the natural relationship between traditional activities of media companies and the topics raised by the "digital revolution” more appropriate answers can be found when concentrating on media companies.

The procedure is as follows: Having described the respective company (Time Warner/AOL, Disney, Viacom/CBS, Sony, or Bertelsmann) in brief by focusing on key aspects such as size and core activities it

The last major issue of Bertelsmann Internet strategy are its E-commerce activities. In mid-2000 the company founded a new division called Bertelsmann eCommerce Group (BeCG) which was headed by the former AOL manager Andreas Schmidt. In late November of last year BeCG (including barnesandnoble) was restructured and integrated into the Direct Group. By now Bertelsmann considers its E-commerce as an additional distribution channel and follows a so-called multi channel strategy by making use of traditional catalogues, shops, and the Internet. Currently, E-commerce revenues for books acount for 2% of total book sales. This number is expected to rise to 10% in three or four years meaning that it becomes "important but not decisive” .

- Retail Business: DirectGroup Bertelsmann (clubs for books and music) and Bertelsmann eCommerce Group (BeCG)

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