Barnes & Noble and A&E Network Partner on Book Promotion to Launch New TV Series 'The Glades'
NEW YORK, June 9, 2010—A&E Network announced today the launch of an innovative and exclusive marketing partnership with Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world's largest bookseller, to drive tune-in for its new original drama series "The Glades," which premieres on A&E on Sunday, July 11 at 10:00 PM/ET.
In a television and book industry first, A&E has transformed its pilot script of "The Glades" into both a physical and digital book with a breakthrough promotion and distribution through Barnes & Noble's retail, online and digital channels to drive awareness for, and engagement with, its new, original drama series in advance of the show's broadcast premiere.
Beginning June 9, "The Glades" book will be featured on in-store displays in nearly half of Barnes & Noble's book stores across the country, reaching millions of book-loving Barnes & Noble customers. A complimentary copy of "The Glades" will be offered to in-store customers, while supplies last. A free copy of "The Glades" will also be shipped with BN.com orders through July, marking another industry first.
To leverage the popularity of eBooks and Barnes & Noble's digital content leadership, a free eBook version of "The Glades" will also be featured on BN.com and in the company's eBookstore, available for immediate download to be enjoyed on Barnes & Noble's award-winning NOOK eBook Reader or on hundreds of popular mobile and computing devices with free BN eReader software including iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, BlackBerry, PC, Mac and more. The promotion will be featured at www.bn.com/theglades and cross-promoted on A&E's on-air and online properties.
"We're excited to be partnering with Barnes & Noble on this unique promotion," said Guy Slattery, SVP of Marketing for A&E. "'The Glades' book has all the right ingredients to be essential summer reading and drive awareness for the series premiere in July."
"We are honored to partner with A&E to launch its new drama series with an innovative book-centric promotion that taps our expertise, retail, online and digital channels and reaches our loyal customer base," said Patricia Bostelman, Vice President of Marketing for Barnes & Noble. "We believe our crime and murder mystery-loving customers in particular will enjoy the opportunity to read the script before the show airs. And we're excited to offer "The Glades" to customers as a complimentary book and eBook to be enjoyed on NOOK or another BN eReader software-enabled device."
Fathom Communications-an Omnicom company specializing in launching companies, brands, products and properties-working on A&E's behalf, developed the concept and partnership with Barnes & Noble and is managing this unique marketing initiative.
"The Glades," a character driven police procedural set in the fictional town of Palm Glade, Florida, stars Australian actor Matt Passmore ("McLeod's Daughters," "Underbelly"), Kiele Sanchez ("Lost," "Samantha Who?"), Carlos Gómez ("Shark," "Sleeper Cell") and Michelle Hurd ("Law & Order SVU," "Gossip Girl").
In "The Glades," Passmore stars as Jim Longworth, an attractive, brilliant, yet hard to get along with homicide detective from Chicago who after being wrongfully accused of sleeping with his former Captain's wife is forced into exile. Longworth relocates to the sleepy, middle of nowhere town of Palm Glade, Florida, where the sunshine and golf are plentiful and crime is seemingly at a minimum. Yet life in this sleepy town is not as beautiful as it may seem.
In the pilot episode, the easy life quickly falls by the wayside when a decapitated, unidentifiable woman is found in a creek, begrudgingly dragging Longworth off the golf course in pursuit of her killer. Complicating matters more is his relationship with Callie, a hot and savvy nurse he has a crush on. With a Titleist sitting on the fourteenth fairway waiting for him to break eighty for the first time in his life, Longworth needles, cajoles, and harangues everyone in his path, including his golf partner and department medical examiner Carlos (Gómez), as he puzzles out the facts surrounding the mysterious killing to try and identify the victim and bring her killer to justice.
"The Glades" is produced by Fox Television Studios for A&E Network. The series executive producer is Clifton Campbell ("White Collar," "Profiler," "21 Jump Street") for Innuendo Productions and Gary Randall ("Saving Grace") for Grand Productions, Inc. The series creator is Clifton Campbell.
About A&E Network
A&E is "Real Life. Drama." Now reaching more than 99 million homes, A&E is television that you can't turn away from; where unscripted shows are dramatic and scripted dramas are authentic. A&E offers a diverse mix of high quality entertainment ranging from the network's original scripted series to signature non-fiction franchises, including the Emmy-winning "Intervention," "Dog The Bounty Hunter," "Hoarders," "Paranormal State" and "Criss Angel Mindfreak," and the most successful justice shows on cable, including "The First 48" and "Manhunters." The A&E website is located at www.aetv.com. For more press information and photography please visit us on the web at www.aetvpress.com.
About Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world's largest bookseller and a Fortune 500 company, operates 723 bookstores in 50 states. Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, also operates 639 college bookstores serving nearly 4 million students and over 250,000 faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States. Barnes & Noble is the nation's top bookseller brand for the seventh year in a row, as determined by a combination of the brand's performance on familiarity, quality, and purchase intent; the top bookseller in quality for the second year in a row and the number two retailer in trust, according to the EquiTrend® Brand Study by Harris Interactive®. Barnes & Noble conducts its online business through Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com), one of the Web's largest e-commerce sites, which also features more than one million titles in its eBookstore (www.bn.com/ebooks). Barnes & Noble customers can buy and read eBooks on the widest range of platforms, including NOOK by Barnes & Noble, eBook Readers from partner companies, and hundreds of the most popular mobile and computing devices using free BN eReader software.
General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Internet by visiting the company's corporate website: www.barnesandnobleinc.com.
NOOK is a trademark of Barnes & Noble, Inc.