Netflix Pulls A Frank Underwood, Snatches Back 'House Of Cards' From A French Pay Channel

J.E. Reich, Tech Times 04 March 2016, 12:03 pm

It looks like Netflix has been under the influence of Frank Underwood for a bit too long. Apparently, the streaming service has snatched back its flagship show House of Cards from the French channel Canal Plus. So if you live in France, you better have a Netflix account: the show will now only stream exclusively there. The show was initially picked up to air on France's premiere pay channel before the first season even aired. House of Cards was subsequently broadcast on Canal Plus for three seasons.

As reported by Variety, there might be a few reasons for the network reclaiming the show. First, it might have to do with low subscription rates: while France reported a gain of 400,000 subscribers in 2015 for a total of 770,000 subscribers nationwide, it's pretty paltry compared with the States, which saw a 1.5 million subscriber count growth the very same year. The idea is that if Netflix cuts off the one venue where nonsubscribers can reliably view House of Cards without a subscription, then those same fans of the show will come flocking to the streaming service.

Another reason for the switch? The "SVOD window" in the country only allows movies to drop 36 months after theatrical release, meaning that there can be a pretty long gap in France between when Netflix can upload new movies onto their queue. Yet again: House of Cards would be a major draw to up subscription rates.

If anything, current Netflix subscribers will be able to catch the fourth season of House of Cards in France as of today, March 4, as well as in 190 different countries, including the United States.

Here is the official - and officially murky - synopsis for the fourth season of House of Cards as per its description on Netflix:

"Is it true that absolute power corrupts absolutely? Congressman Frank Underwood intends to find out. [...] A ruthless politician will stop at nothing to conquer Washington, D.C., in this Emmy and Golden Globe-winning political drama."

While the cast will feature old cast staples like Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright as Frank and Claire Underwood, some newcomers have been added to the show's roster, namely Neve Campbell, Cecily Strong, Ellen Burstyn and Joel Kinnaman.

Check out the season trailer in the video clip below.