The competition between tablet manufacturers to offer both devices and content continues to heat up as Barnes & Noble announced plans to launch Nook Video, a new service offering big budget movies, classic films and TV shows available for viewing on Nook devices, TVs, tablets and smartphones. Nook Video will launch in the fall in the U.S. and the U.K., offering movies and TV shows for purchase or rental from such Hollywood studios as HBO, Sony, STARZ, Warner Bros. and others.
Consumers will be able to access movie content through a Nook Video app, which will be released shortly. Like the Nook Reading app, the Nook Video app will provide access to the movie/TV content for purchase or rent and will be stored in the Nook Cloud, allowing consumers to watch their video content on any connected devices. In addition using Ultra-Violet—a service that allows consumers to stream their physical DVDs to their mobile devices or PC—consumers can link their Ultra-violet accounts to the Nook Cloud and stream their DVD and Blu-Ray purchases for viewing on their devices. Consumers will be able to watch movies on one device, stop and pick up viewing at the same point on another of their devices.
B&N CEO William Lynch said, “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. 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.”
In a major personnel move, Patrick Rouvillois was named to the newly created spot of v-p, managing director-international. In that role Rouvillois will be responsible for building the Nook brand outside of the U.S. Based in Luxembourg, Rouvillois will report to Jamie Iannone, president, B&N Digital Products. “We’re thrilled to have Patrick join the team as we embark on our international expansion of the Nook brand into the U.K. and beyond,” said Iannone. “Patrick brings strong leadership to the role, and his vast background in the retail, consulting, telecom and media sectors will be incredibly valuable.” Prior to joining B&N, Rouvillois was global CMO and head of eCommerce at the global retailer Carrefour, which has 15,000 stores in 30 countries, and had been with the telecommunications giant Orange Group as executive v-p of consumer marketing.
