Barnes and Noble Looks to Expand Digital Periodicals

Those of you hoping to see more magazines, periodicals and blogs added to the Barnes and Noble marketplace might be stoked to find out that BN has hired Jonathan Shar as General Manager Of Digital Newsstand And Emerging Content. Mr. Shar previously worked for “Time Warner’s Time Inc. division, where he was the Senior Vice President and General Manager of CNNMoney.com. From 2003-2007, he was Vice President, Consumer Marketing for the Sports Illustrated Group, which includes the Sports Illustrated, SI for Kids and Golf brands.”

The full press release follows:

New York, NY (March 8, 2010) – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller, today announced that it has named Jonathan Shar as General Manager, Digital Newsstand and Emerging Content, Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com). Mr. Shar will be responsible for creating and leading the digital newsstand and emerging content business, a large strategic focus for the company. He will work with newspaper, magazine, periodical, blogs and other content publishers to sell and market their digital editorial products to millions of Barnes & Noble customers.

Mr. Shar joins Barnes & Noble from Time Warner’s Time Inc. division, where he was the Senior Vice President and General Manager of CNNMoney.com. From 2003-2007, he was Vice President, Consumer Marketing for the Sports Illustrated Group, which includes the Sports Illustrated, SI for Kids and Golf brands.

“Barnes & Noble is the largest retailer of specialty magazines and newspapers in the U.S.,” said William Lynch, President of Barnes & Noble.com. “It’s been a big and strategic business for us for years, and we have very strong relationships with hundreds of newsstand publishers who want to work with us to distribute their content digitally. As we continue focus on digital distribution of books, newspapers and magazines, Jonathan is the right person to drive the major growth opportunity we have in this area.”

Mr. Shar graduated from Tufts University with a Bachelor of Arts degree and received his MBA from the University of Michigan.