Netflix might have a hit with 'House of Cards' (and why it desperately needs to)
- Jon Xavier
- Web Producer- Silicon Valley Business Journal
- Email | Twitter | Google
To judge from the early reviews, Netflix has a hit on its hands. Here's what the critics have to say:
USA Today:
"It practically reeks of money well-spent: Outside of a repeat of Planet Earth, this may be the most gorgeous piece of television you see all year."The Verge:
"So I watched it — episodes 1 and 2, with a brief pause for a black screen between them, and credits only at the end. And afterwards, I couldn't help feeling I'd seen something remarkable — that it was among the best television I'd seen in years, but also that it really was (as one Netflix staffer at the screening remarked to a friend over drinks) more like a thirteen-part movie than episodic TV."Time:
"After two hours, I was as ravenous for more scheming and cynical philosophy as Underwood tucking into a second helping of barbecue. Spacey (whose last regular TV gig was 25 years ago in Wiseguy) may well make him into the kind of classic antihero who is as fascinating in failure as in success, as we see when the White House patronizingly offers him Inauguration tickets as a consolation prize for losing the State post. 'What am I?' he asks us derisively. 'A whore in postwar Berlin, salivating over free stockings and chocolate?'"LA Times:
"Just as "The Sopranos" turned HBO into a game-changer and "Mad Men" re-invented AMC, "House of Cards" makes Netflix an undisputed player in serialized drama.Netflix needs this experiment to work because it's getting more and more expensive to license the content it needs from others. If Netflix can get a good brand reputation for content it produces, then it could possibly pull the same transformation that premium movie channels like AMC and HBO have, where the original programing is the real draw.
Indeed, if the rest of the series is as good as the two episodes released early for review (the fact that Netflix made only the episodes directed by Fincher available is slightly worrisome), "House of Cards" will in all probability become the first non-televised television show to receive an Emmy nomination, or four."
If that happens, Netflix wouldn't have to lean on its content partnerships as much, giving it better standing to bargain when the studios start playing hardball.
Of course, one show does not a network make, Sopranos notwithstanding. Even if the critics love "House of Cards," the big question is how normal reviewers react, and how many will shell out the $7.99 to sign up. Given the shows pricetag, Netflix needs about 520,834 new subscribers to break even. That actually puts the economics of the show in line with HBO, according to the Atlantic.
Still, with a critical darling in the making with "House of Cards" and established favorites like Arrested Development on the way, Netflix is off to a good start.
Jon Xavier is Web Producer at the Business Journal. His phone number is 408.299.1826.
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