CCC launches Tsutaya.com

TOKYO -- Culture Convenience Club, operator of the Tsutaya DVD rental chain, Japan's largest, plans to launch a new company, Tsutaya.com, on Oct. 1. Tsutaya.com will manage all of CCC's Internet-related businesses, including Tsutaya TV (a VOD service for Android users) and Tsutaya Discas (an Internet delivery service for pics, CDs and comics, with 1.15 million users) and Tsutaya.com eBooks (an eBook delivery service). The prexy will be Kazuo Nakanishi, who heads CCC's Products and Entertainment Division. The aim, CCC said in a statement, is to provide, "multi-content, multi-use and multi-device" delivery services across a wide range of digital platforms. Given the softening of CCC's core biz, this shift in corporate strategy could not only speed change in the way the Japanese consume entertainment, but give CCC itself a new lease on life. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Watch Harry Potter 7