Netflix?s ?House Of Cards? Is Internet TV-Funded Original Programming But Don?t Kid Yourself It?s Ad-Free (Spoiler Alert)

When Netflix bid on and won the rights to House of Cards back in 2011 ? buying the show before it was shot and committing to two full seasons ? it made headlines. And with good reason: Funding such a high-profile slice of original programming ? with David Fincher and Kevin Spacey on board — cast Netflix in a role typically occupied by HBO. Rumours of a $100 million+ price tag for HoC were bandied around. An AllThingsD source suggested a minimum of $3 million per episode ? putting the total cost at?$78 million at least.?Netflix has not publicly confirmed how much it?s spending on the show, although a WSJ?source “familiar with Netflix’s plans” claimed the cost would likely be far less than $100 million. Whatever the final figure, Netflix has rolled out a red carpet of grand claims regarding what the show means for Internet TV. ?We believe that February 1st [the date the first season of HoC was put on Netflix] will be a defining moment in the development of Internet TV,? it proclaimed on an earnings call last month. ?For viewers, Internet TV is a better experience because of the freedom and flexibility it provides, and in the case of Netflix, the lack of commercials,? it added. Of course it?s Netflix?s job to talk up Internet TV since that?s its business. But beyond the ability to watch a new show at your own pace, without being tied to a linear multi-week episode release schedule, is HoC really so revolutionary? Having watched the entire show I am struck by one thing:?HoC is chock full of commercial content — far more than I can recall seeing in any recent, or not-so-recent, TV show. For Netflix to claim that Internet TV lacks commercials is, when it comes to this particular slice of original programming, disingenuous at best. Products are not just placed incidentally and occasionally in the background of HoC, they are a constant frame around the action and a deflecting focus for the director’s lens. And worse: At times brand interests clearly hijack portions of the plot, character arcs, scripting — the works. Apple products dominate the show but it’s not the only brand in play, with BlackBerry, Canon, Dell and Sony also getting a slice of air time (to name just the brands I immediately noticed).?Some of these product appearances are fleeting. Many are not. At various points

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