Foxtel Secures Netflix Series House Of Cards

4 April 2013 | 12:31 pm | Dan Condon

The first 13 episodes will be available to view from next month.

House Of Cards, the very well received new David Fincher series starring Kevin Spacey, has a home in Australia, it has been announced this morning, with Foxtel securing the rights to broadcast the program through its Foxtel Go and Foxtel On Demand channels, as well as their premium drama channel showcase.

Audiences who subscribe to showcase will have access to all 13 episodes of the first season from 8.30pm on Tuesday 7 May. From then audiences can download them to through their IQ or Foxtel Go device to watch when they want, or can watch the program weekly when showcase broadcasts it each Tuesday night.

It shows the pay TV provider doing their best to move with the times, establishing themselves as a viable player in the television streaming market that is set to become bigger and bigger as programs – such as cult comedy Arrested Development – use the medium as the sole method of broadcasting their shows.

In a statement released today Foxtel Executive Director of Television Brian Walsh acknowledged the viewing habits of television consumers are changing.

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“The Netflix strategy for the House of Cards release recognises the online audience is hungry for content to watch either all at once, or at a time that suits them. By offering the complete first season to our own online customers on Foxtel Go and On Demand we are providing Australian audiences an alternative to broadcast viewing and giving them the option to watch the entire series when they like.”

The show, a political drama, sees Spacey as Congressman Francis Underwood and is said to “penetrate the shadowy world of greed, sex, and corruption in modern Washington D.C”. House Of Cards is produced by (and had several episodes directed by) David Fincher (The Fight Club, Social Network) and also involves the work of Hollywood directors James Foley (Glengarry Glen Ross) and Joel Schumacher (Phonebooth, Batman & Robin).