Barnes & Noble's Nook Strikes Content Deal With Hollywood Studios

Despite an uncertain future for its tablet device, Barnes & Noble announced Thursday new content-licensing partnerships with Hollywood studios to bolster video offerings on the Nook.

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Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate, MGM, Relativity Media and National Geographic are among the providers whose film and TV offerings will be added to the catalog of Nook and Nook HD devices. Titles made available include The Hunger Games, the Twilight series, Skyfall, Flight and Mad Men.

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The video content will be made available in the Nook store "as soon as this weekend," noted Jonathan Shar, vice president & general manager, emerging digital content, in a statement. 

"Nook is one of a growing spectrum of new digital buyers for our film and TV content and illustrates the breadth and depth of opportunities for monetizing our content across a broad array of platforms," said Thomas Hughes, Lionsgate senior vp digital/on demand. 

Barnes & Noble's tablets, which are promoted in stores nationwide, compete in the same category as Apple's iPad and Amazon's Kindle Fire. Demand for the device slowed during last year's holiday season. 

"Coming off the holiday shortfall, we're in the process of making some adjustments to our strategy as we continue to pursue the exciting growth opportunities ahead for us in the consumer and digital education content markets," Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch said last week in a call with investors, the AP reported. 

The company's continued investment in developing future tablet devices has been called into question. A source told The New York Times in February that Barnes & Noble is "not completely getting out of the hardware business, but they are going to lean a lot more on the comprehensive digital catalog of content."