Rumors that Barnes & Noble might spinoff the Nook division got a little stronger this week. Michael Huseby, a former executive of Cablevision, has been hired as B&N new Chief Financial Officer.

The Wall Street Journal has more details:

The 57-year-old Mr. Huseby helped cable-TV company Cablevision spin off its Madison Square Garden sports-and-entertainment properties in February 2010 and its AMC Networks TV-entertainment business last summer.

…

William Lynch, the bookseller’s chief executive, said in an interview that Mr. Huseby’s familiarity with spinoffs, though “interesting,” wasn’t among the top reasons it hired him. He pointed instead to Mr. Huseby’s background as a public-company CFO, his track record of increasing revenue and cash flow, and his capital-markets experience.

I wouldn’t read too much into this, myself. While B&N is likely looking into finding someone to help develop then hardware,but it is incredibly unlikely that they will stop selling it or even stop developing new models. The Nook is here to stay; the only thing that might change is who owns it.