Netflix Canada to Stream Original TV Series ‘House of Cards’

Netflix was rumoured to have outbid several major networks to land “House of Cards,” a new TV series produced by David Fincher (The Social Network) and starring Kevin Spacey. Today, Netflix confirmed this on their blog. This is the first exclusive TV series to originate on Netflix (including Netflix Canada!)–which is HUGE for viewers.

Hi, Ted Sarandos, Netflix Chief Content Officer here. We’re delighted to tell you that in late 2012 Netflix will be bringing to our members in the U.S. and Canada exclusively “House of Cards,” the much-anticipated television series and political thriller from Executive Producer David Fincher and starring Kevin Spacey. We’ve committed to at least 26 episodes of the serialized drama, which is based on a BBC mini-series from the 1990s that’s been a favorite of Netflix members. Originally written as a novel by former UK Conservative Party Chief of Staff Michael Dobbs, “House of Cards,” explores the ruthless underside of British politics at the end of the Thatcher era. Reset against the backdrop of modern-day U.S. electoral politics, this new one-hour drama follows Spacey as an ambitious politician with his eye on the top job. Fincher, the Oscar-nominated director of “The Social Network” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” will direct the pilot written by Beau Willimon (“Farragut North” and the upcoming George Clooney-directed “The Ides of March.” )

If this new model proves successful, we can see Netflix becoming a viable alternative to cable. Of course, they do license all of their media from movie studios and networks, but this approach of licensing a show before production is unheard of and very exciting. Oh, and it’s going to be available on Netflix Canada, too.

Now, the only thing stopping Netflix Canada is the whole UBB debate and bandwidth caps from our telcos. I would be worried too, if I were them. I want Netflix to succeed in Canada, and if they continue to aggressively add original series in this way, more people will join the party.

Click here for a free one month trial of Netflix Canada. The library is slowly growing, but so far I’m loving it, and it works incredibly well with my Apple TV.

[Netflix Blog]

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