Borders book chain launches IPTV channel

UK book retailer, Borders, is launching its own internet TV channel – Borders Book Zone – this spring, in collaboration with Simply Media.

Borders Book Zone is part of a revamp of Border’s own website, www.borders.co.uk, and a re-branding of Simply Media’s own bookzone.tv website as ‘Borders Book Zone’.

Simply Media will produce weekly programming for Borders, which will be presented by Nina Sebastiane and Samantha Norman.

Content will include interviews with leading authors such as Ian Rankin and Terry Pratchett; together with news on the latest books.

An archive of 100 interviews with authors will be available when the channel launches, and more content will be added.

Extracts from the content will be aired on Simply TV, Simply Media’s channel on Sky, and will also be included in a weekly email to 700,000 Borders customers.

The move into video content is part of Borders’ strategy to differentiate its offering from other book retailers and to provide publishers with a new marketing tool.

Simply Media, a leading digital entertainment providers, has significant experience in developing premium content for TV, web, mobile and Captive Audience Networks.