The alliance between the three publications is meant to leverage on TheHindustan Times' overwhelming presence in the north, The Indian Express andLoksatta's reach in Mumbai and Pune, and Mid-Day's leadership in theday-time market in Mumbai and Pune. The three groups will now provide acommon platform for advertisers to release their appointment advertisements,the speakers said.

Under this scheme, the three media groups have worked out packages foradvertisers, depending on the markets they wish to advertise in. Forinstance, if a job/appointment advertiser opts for a package withadvertisements in HT Careers, Delhi; Headstart (IE), Mumbai; and Mid-Day,Mumbai, simultaneously, the common tie-up rate offered is Rs 1,500 per cmper column. This is against stand alone rates of Rs 1,020 for HT Careers(Delhi); Rs 900 for The Indian Express (Mumbai); and Rs 550 for Mid-Day(Mumbai).

To make an impact on the market, The Hindustan Times is relaunching its HTCareers segment as a comprehensive careers package with a mix of advertisingand careers. Similarly, The Indian Express group is relaunching itsappointments supplement, Headstart. The supplement, which is now beingdistributed with The Indian Express, Mumbai, will now be distributed alongwith group publications Loksatta and The Financial Express, Mumbai, also.Mid-Day too is strengthening its job supplement - The Big Break - which willnow focus on youth readership.

Although not much was said about the revenue-sharing arrangement between thethree media groups, it's clear that the alliance is meant to be mutuallybeneficial. Said Mr Kohli of The Hindustan Times: ``The revenue-sharingarrangement will be dynamic in nature.''

Commenting on the alliance, Mr Kohli said that it is a win-win combinationand a tremendous value for money for advertisers. Also, it's a major benefitfor the users of the ads, he added. Mr Shekhar Gupta said: ``It will be amuch better deal for job seekers and much cheaper for advertisers.'' MrAnsari added: ``Though we're a little brother in comparison, we're bringingsomething concrete to the table.''

Commenting on the alliance, Mr Gupta said that the Express Group is open tosimilar tie-ups in the future. ``Ultimately, it will become a very uniquearrangement in the market in areas other than job advertisements.'' He,however, added that in the global scenario, such alliances are quite common.On the same issue of expanding the alliance, Mr Kohli said that TheHindustan Times is in talks with Mid-Day Radio for a tie-up package in theFM Radio scene.