Netflix has won the exclusive rights to stream 26 episodes of the original series House of Cards. The company announced that it got the show on Friday after rumors spread earlier in the week that the deal was nearing completion, thereby making Netflix more into a premium entertainment offering instead of just a "dumb" video delivery service.
Netflix says that House of Cards would be coming to Netflix customers in the US and Canada in late 2012. The show is based on the 1990 BBC miniseries of the same name that explored the "ruthless underside of British politics." The modern version of the show will be based on US electoral politics, with Kevin Spacey starring as an "ambitious politician."
On the company blog, Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos explained why House of Cards differs from previous licensing deals. "Typically, we license TV shows the season after they run on a broadcast network or cable channel, and occasionally we have episodes from a current season, as is the case with 'Saturday Night Live' from NBC, 'Spartacus' from Starzplay and 'Wizards of Waverly Place' from Disney Channel," Sarandos wrote.
"In all of these cases, the shows are produced before we bring them to Netflix. 'House of Cards' represents a slightly more risky approach; while we aren’t producing the show and don’t own it, we are agreeing to license it before it is successfully produced."
As we wrote earlier this week, Netflix is wise to look for new ways to stay ahead of the competition. Netflix currently delivers 61 percent of all digital video to US viewers, but Amazon recently introduced its own Instant Video service. Amazon's offering only costs $79 per year (compared to Netflix's $95.88 per year on the streaming-only plan) and is constantly adding new content to its library. By signing on House of Cards, Netflix has something that no one else has, and the company says it "may" sign on more exclusive series' in the future, too.
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