Netflix confirms deal for 'House of Cards,' first 'original' series

It's now been confirmed that Netflix has acquired the series "House of Cards" for an exclusive "airing" or rather, streaming. The series will show up on Netflix's Watch Instantly in the U.S. and Canada before anywhere else.

It's an interesting gamble by Netflix. The service did downplay the change, somewhat. Rather than explicitly producing the series itself, what Netflix has done here is licensed the content before it was already produced by another party, and with exclusivity, as well. Netflix has also signed on for "at least" 26 episodes.

Here's what the Netflix blog post said, in part:

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.” )

The TV shows and movies that you are able to watch instantly are licensed from movie studios, TV networks, distributors and sometimes directly from the producers of the films and TV shows. “House of Cards” is unique, as it is the first exclusive TV series to originate on Netflix. 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. 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.

Deadline Hollywood was the first to report on rumors of the story, earlier this week. For regular media sources such as HBO and SHO, they can take small comfort in knowing that Netflix's first series won't be available until late 2012.