Friday was the beginning of the end of television as we know it -- or at least that's what Netflix would like you to believe.
The popular video-streaming service released the political drama "House of Cards" early Friday morning. The star-studded series about the underbelly of D.C. politics -- featuring glittery names like Kevin Spacey and executive producer David Fincher -- cost Netflix $100 million to make. That's a whopping price, until you consider what Netflix is trying to buy. Sensing moneyed competition from Amazon and Google, Netflix is taking a chance on premium original content to secure its customer base, ensure its survival and become the next HBO.
Reed Hastings has a vision for TV that ought to scare studio heads as much as Netflix's first business -- direct-by-mail DVDs -- scared Blockbuster. According to profile of Hastings in this month's GQ, he and his executives imagine a TV land where episodes don't conform to 22-minute-long blocks, directors aren't beholden to corporate middlemen and viewers don't have to wait week to week to watch episodes.
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