NBC has announced today that the company is getting into the ebook business with both traditional digital offerings and enhanced editions. The new offshoot will be called NBC Publishing and will derive its content via its subsidiaries such as; NBC Universal such as Universal Pictures, Telemundo and NBC Sports.
NBC does not have a wellspring of experience producing books but they have produced enhanced ebooks in the past. They have basically learned how the production cycle works with their first forays into the business when they collaborated with the Perseus Books Group and Penguin. Where are they going to get their actual written content from? Well they intend on tapping into their archives and hiring freelance writers to produce the actual content. We have been informed that they have 30 different books planned for 2012 to iron out the logistics and then expand from there.
NBC Publishing intends on creating content specifically for the Apple iPad because it has a heavy user base and an established track record with the success of enhanced ebooks. There has been no mention of Android yet according to our sources but it is low on their priority list because people with iPads spend more money on content.
This new publishing initiative by NBC is not the only one in town and they are only the latest media conglomerate to see the light and setup an autonomous unit. Simon & Schuster is a division of CBS and Hyperion is the adult trade book publishing unit of the Disney/ABC-Television Group.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
