New York Times and Monster Worldwide Forge Strategic Alliance

The New York Times and Monster Worldwide, the operator of job-listing website Monster.com, will co-brand their online recruitment ad services on the Times's career sites. The deal turns one of the Times's ad-revenue rivals into a colleague and provides Monster with access to local job markets. The co-branded sites will launch in March. Monster already has alliances in place with dozens of newspapers across the country as well as eight TV stations. In November 2006, Yahoo forged a similar deal with seven newspapers that melds the papers' job ads with Yahoo's HotJobs search technology. Google, too, will be selling ad space in 50 newspapers, including the Times. Newspaper operators the Tribune Company, the Gannett Company and the McClatchy Company co-own help-wanted site CareerBuilder, a competitor to Monster.com. Monster shares were up $0.91 to reach $53.63 on the news while New York Times shares gained $0.59, or 2.3% percent, to close at $25.75.

Sources: New York Times, Business Week, ere.net
Commentary: Print Media: Less Predictable Revenue Doesn't Mean It's Over • Monster Worldwide: Business Outlook Intact Despite Legal Uncertainty • Expedia Enters Partnership with the NY Times. Conference call transcript: New York Times Q4 2006, Monster Worldwide Q4 2006
Stocks/ETFs to watch: The New York Times Company (NYT), Monster Worldwide, Inc. (MNST). Competitors: Dow Jones & Co. Inc. (DJ), Gannett Co., Inc. (GCI), The McClatchy Company (MNI), The Tribune Co. (TRB), Kforce Inc. (KFRC). ETFs: First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index (FDN), First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weight Idx (QQEW)

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