re: House of Cards (Neflix Series)

Watched the first 2 epsidoes on Thursday Night. Finished the season last night. Incredibly well-done.

Sarandros-Netflix's talent acquisition guy-is really, really unnerving the cable cos with this stuff.

The chick behind the development of Weeds is going to get a series there next called, "Orange is the New Black," about a chick in prison. They already have Lillyhammer, as well.

But scoring a guy like Fincher and having him come out not only in terms of its distribution method (all 13 shows at once for the first series) but publicly supporting the way they are stretching acting into long-form, movie-quality productions with heavy emphasis on things that others have already mentioned is important.

The quality of acting and cast, the writing, direction, production quality, cinematography...all of it is top-notch.

For people who are wondering how it makes money, well look at it this way...if they can become a content house, Netflix can actually battle cable channels on multiple fronts: With their own products but then also the same products cable cos are using against Netflix. As far as pricing, its hundreds of dollars to pay a cable bill, and only $7.99 for Netflix.

Netflix makes more on a single month subscription than an HBO would make over a two-to-three month subscription for something like The Pacific or Band Of Brothers or Sopranos, etc based on what they charge carriers for their channel's content.

On top of that, Netflix still hasn't explored the idea that they could actually distribute the series it produces on Blu Ray & DVD. That's another potential windfall for them. One that even if they didn't retain those rights (which I don't believe they did for HoC) would still prove so lucrative to allow a company like the one Fincher & Spacey put together for this (Digital Rights Media) that with the up-front money and long-term commitment ($100 million for two guaranteed seasons minimum) the offer is just too sweet.

With this home run, its like an actor winning an oscar for his first performance on the big screen. He can afford to only do what he wants after that. His bona fides proven, he can sift through it all.

Same with Netflix, with the cash, commitment and back-end rights they can award to people, they're going to attract the biggest, brightest stars and the best quality content. They also keep 100% of the subscription.

This is the first shot across the cable co's bow. They will always-ALWAYS-have a market providing live sports on TV. I don't think that will ever truly go away. Just look at what they keep allowing ESPN to charge.

But content houses like HBO & Showtime? Their days are more than likely numbered. Which is why I think you see HBO To Go details getting hammered out for Apple TV. They are getting ahead of the game.

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Curious to know how this helps Netflix compared to the traditional TV model.

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The world is changing before your very eyes.

Even if they released one at a time, you could just wait till all were released and watch them all within a month then cancel.