[From Digital Book World]

In response to the growing library of exclusive content Amazon offers its Prime customers who also own Kindle devices, Barnes & Noble will launch Nook Video this fall. The largest bricks-and-mortar bookstore chain and second-largest e-book retailer in the U.S. will add a large collection of streaming video for sale to its large catalog of e-books.

The company has not yet responded to Digital Book World’s request for comment on how much the content will cost and whether there will be a subscription service like Amazon Prime.

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[Press Release]

NOOK Video™ to Premiere This Fall

Coming Soon: Shop Popular Digital Movies & TV Shows Available for Streaming and Download

Content Licensed From Major Studios Including HBO®, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, STARZ, The Walt Disney Studios, Viacom and Warner Bros. Entertainment to Bring Customers Entertainment Anywhere

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today announced its new NOOK Video offering will premiere this fall with blockbuster movies, classic films and original TV shows from major studios including HBO, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, STARZ, Viacom and Warner Bros. Entertainment, plus favorite movies from The Walt Disney Studios. Barnes & Noble, which is one of the country’s leading DVD and Blu-ray Disc™ retailers, will now offer an expansive digital collection of popular films and television shows to be enjoyed anywhere on NOOKs, TVs, tablets and smartphones. Barnes & Noble is also planning to make available content from other leading studios to be announced.

Beginning this fall in the US and coming this holiday season to the UK, NOOK Video will offer customers the opportunity to shop an extensive and diverse digital collection of standard and high-definition movies and TV shows available for streaming and download. Through deals with these and other major studios, the NOOK Video catalog will offer something for everyone in the family to enjoy, including Disney-Pixar’s Brave and Toy Story 3, Marvel’s The Avengers, 21 Jump Street, Awkward, The Artist, Breaking Bad, Dora the Explorer, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Spartacus, Magic City, The Walking Dead, True Blood®, Game of Thrones®, Harry Potter movies, The Dark Knight, The Hangover and many more.

Videos that are streamed and downloaded from the NOOK Store will be stored safely and securely in the NOOK Cloud™, so NOOK Video content can be enjoyed on NOOKs and other devices via soon-to-launch free NOOK Video apps. As with the NOOK Reading apps, NOOK Video apps will seamlessly work together so customers can pick up watching right where they left off on any of their connected devices.

NOOK Video will also integrate a customer’s compatible physical DVD and Blu-ray Disc purchases and digital video collection across their devices through UltraViolet™. Customers will soon be able to easily link their UltraViolet accounts to the NOOK Cloud allowing them to view their previously and newly purchased UltraViolet-enabled movies and TV shows across NOOK devices and NOOK Video apps, as well as through third party applications. In addition to purchasing a digital version via NOOK Video, customers can shop for DVDs and Blu-ray discs with the UltraViolet logo in Barnes & Noble and other retail stores, add them to their digital collection, and instantly watch compatible titles from the NOOK Cloud to enjoy wherever they go and however they choose.

“As one of the world’s largest retailers of physical video discs and digital copyrighted content, our new NOOK Video service will give our customers another way to be entertained with a vast and growing digital video collection, as part of our expansive NOOK Store,” said William J. Lynch, Chief Executive Officer of Barnes & Noble. “The launch of our new digital video service with our long-time studio partners allows us to bring award-winning current and classic movies, TV shows, documentaries and more to millions of customers’ screens, coming soon.”

“With the great success of the NOOK tablet and Barnes & Noble’s in-store promotional efforts, we are very excited to bring our acclaimed programming to the NOOK Store,” said Henry McGee, President, HBO Home Entertainment. “NOOK Video offers a customized and convenient way for entertainment enthusiasts to own award-winning shows such as Game of Thrones®, Boardwalk Empire®, GirlsSM, and True Blood® and enjoy them across a multitude of devices.”

“The NOOK is a dynamic tablet with a beautiful display and we are excited to provide content from Viacom’s media networks on this enhanced portable, platform” said Denise Denson, Executive Vice President of Content Distribution and Marketing at Viacom. “This is another opportunity for our audiences to enjoy their favorite shows from across MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, TV Land, Spike and BET wherever they go.”

“NOOK Video provides customers a simple way to buy movies digitally and UltraViolet brings unmatched convenience and portability to those purchases, allowing consumers to access their digital collection from almost anywhere,” said Thomas Gewecke, President, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. “With Barnes & Noble’s in-store, online and digital promotions many consumers will learn how to maximize their entertainment using all the benefits UltraViolet provides.”

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