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It's one of the world's largest media empires, yet many haven't heard of the company.  Last year, it racked up a considerable $7.7 billion in revenues and $569 million in earnings.  The company controls 70 newspapers, with a total daily circulation of 1.9 million.  Its publishing division has a staff of 12,500 employees in 19 countries that distributes 1,250 CD-ROMs, 38,000 books (ranging from business, education, science, etc.), and 330 subscription-based journals. The company even owns WestLaw, which is the premier source for legal research.

But this company is also a huge player in the financial services market -- more than 7,000 employees and revenues of $780 million.  The company has many first-class information sources (geared primarily for institutional investors), such as First Call, CDA/Investnet, CDA Spectrum, CDA/Wiesenberger, Investext, Institutional Shareholder Services, and Securities Data.

The company is called Thomson.  Interestingly enough, despite the fact that Thomson has an institutional emphasis, the company did something surprising:  On July 15, 1997, it launched a site for individual investors called the Thomson Investors Network.

Unfortunately, like Thomson itself, this site hasn't had much visibility compared with such well-known brands as Motley Fool, BigCharts, and MSN Investor.  But this is likely to change.  AT&T WorldNet and Money Magazine Online have teamed up with the Thomson Investor Network to offer extensive analytical tools and research.  Other big names are sure to follow. Basically, the Thomson Investor Network site has a two-tiered structure. That is, you can obtain free information.  And, if you want premium information, you'll pay a subscription fee.

The Freebies:

To get free information, you'll need to register as a guest.  This means you'll need to input some personal information.  What do you get in return? Well, you'll get access to lots of financial information.  But the most compelling value is access to real-time quotes from the NYSE, Amex, and Nasdaq.  No other site has such an offer. Typically, you need to pay a monthly fee, such as with Quote.com, or have an online brokerage account, such as with ETrade or Schwab, to get real-time quotes. 

While Thomson's real-time quote service isn't unlimited, you still get a hefty 50 quotes per day.

So how can Thomson offer such a deal? The service is paid by sponsorships. Sponsors include Ameritrade, Financial Web, Suretrade, and Datek.

But, for a fee, you can have access to a tremendous amount of investment tools and resources.  Here's what you get:

Premium Services:

TipSheet:  This is the most popular part of the site. On one page, you get an incredible amount of useful information.  You see intraday and 12-month charts, current investment ratings from First Call (which are the analysts' consensus estimates), Investnet (insider trading index), key measures (price/earnings ratio, protected P/E, etc.) and access to news stories.  You can then click the "full Thomson report," which gives you even more information.  You'll see the financials, performance ratios, insider buying/selling (a list of those who are making the purchases and sales), the major shareholders, and the major mutual funds who own stock in the company.  LiveTicker:  This uses Java push technology to deliver quotes and news to your desktop.  Basically, the LiveTicker is a small browser, which you can drag anywhere on the screen.  Clicking "Home" will take you back to the Thomson Investors Network site.  If you select a certain security from the LiveTicker, you'll get a TipSheet. FlashMail:  This will alert you -- immediately -- when a certain event affects your portfolio.  These events include changes in analysts' recommendations and price actions. Portfolio Tracker:  You create as many as 50 portfolios, each with 50 securities. Information you track includes cost history, total value, returns, news alerts, broker forecasts, and earnings announcements. Education Center:  Here, you'll have access to articles on financial-planning topics, as well as an investment glossary.

The fee structure is as follows:  You can either pay a monthly subscription of $9.95 or pay a lump sum of $89.95 for the whole year, which is a 25 percent discount. 

But there are other payment options.  "We want as much flexibility as possible," says Tonya Hilleary, the marketing and communications manager for the Thomson Financial Services Consumer Products division.  For example, there's a "pay-per-view" option.  That is, you can purchase a company report for $2.50 and a mutual fund report for $1.50.  This option is not for the day trader, but for those who want to keep track of their investments, say, on a quarterly basis (which is common for many people who invest in mutual funds with their 401(k)s).

Finally, you can have a "day pass" for $2.  As the name implies, for a day, it's  as if you're a full-member.  "This option is usually for those times when there is a major event," says Hilleary.  "This was the case when we had the major tobacco litigation.  We had many portfolio managers who wanted to do lots of research on this subject, but may not have had the need for a long-term monthly subscription."

Thomson uses CyberCash for processing online transactions.  And it has worked very well.  Also, Thomson does not use the Wallet technology in favor of a direct credit card transaction.  "We want to keep online transactions as simple as possible for the customer,") says Hilleary. Despite the fact you can fax in an order, Hilleary says, "As far as we can tell, there is little fear about using credit cards on the Web as most of our subscriptions are processed online."

As for the future, Thomson will continue to enhance the service.  "We listen to the customers," says Hilleary.  One thing Thomson learned was that users do not like frames.  The main reason is that you cannot bookmark a page. 

Thomson plans on offering more microsites such as the real-time quote site. "These will all be based on what our customer-wants," says Hilleary.  "For example, in today's increasingly volatile market, investors are making mutual funds an extremely popular investment vehicle."  As for the main site, Thomson is in the midst of a major restructuring.  I can hardly wait.