‘House Of Cards’ Season 4 Update: Netflix Banned Release In New Zealand? Kevin Spacey Called Out To Petition Show
Netflix is finally releasing the fourth season of the much-awaited series House of Cards this coming Friday, March 4. However, it appears that New Zealand is not getting their fair share of the excitement.
According to New Zealand Herald, writer Chris Schulz tried to contact Netflix to find out why the show is not launching in New Zealand. Schulz noted that he received a normal email update from Netflix with subject line: “Best Pics on Netflix NZ – March 2016.” In the email, it was noted that House of Cards season 4 will be there, and just like the announcement, it will be available on March 4.
Even after receiving this email, they still did not get any update on House of Cards season 4.
“After all, due to wrangling over rights issues, no one in New Zealand had legally been able to watch Netflix’s best and most acclaimed drama here since season two.”
The email was a glimmer of hope for the audience in New Zealand, but they were disappointed to discover that it was a hoax. The question is, why did Netflix make such announcement if there is no definitive move on the New Zealand area yet?
Netflix Fails to Deliver in New Zealand
Schulz added that Todd Yellin, Netflix’s vice president of product innovation, told him about New Zealand becoming a part of the Netflix family when the service was launched in the region.
Yellin noted that they plan Netflix to be “global throughout the entire world.”
Two hours after the email was sent, Schulz received another email from Netflix’s Australian PR Team with subject line: “Updated: Best Pics on Netlix NZ – March 2016.” In the new email, House of Cards had been removed from the list. After receiving the email, Schulz sent out their questions to Netflix to learn why they could not see House of Cards. Here’s a list of the questions they sent:
- What do NZ Netflix subscribers need to do to see House of Cards seasons three and four?
- Is this a local streaming rights issue?
- Does someone else have the broadcast or streaming rights?
- Does Netflix have a view on one of its biggest shows being unavailable here?
- Do those rights expire at some point and revert to Netflix and if so when?
Lastly, they wondered if Netflix had finally “disowned” them.
“Are we like Kevin from Home Alone, left to our own devices while scrambling around the house trying to make the cable work so we can watch House of freaking Cards?”
When they gave up on trying to find answers, Schulz decided to reach out to the one man who can change everything, Kevin Spacey.
Schulz sent out a tweet to the House of Cards lead actor.
Please @KevinSpacey can you use your powers of political persuasion to help us? We can't watch House of Cards in NZ. We desperately want to.
— Chris Schulz (@chris__schulz) March 3, 2016
People responded on Schulz’s tweet and have also asked the same thing. What is taking so long and why is it so hard to get past the licensing issues in New Zealand? Though there are available DVDs for House of Cards season 3, people are not satisfied with this option.
@chris__schulz @KevinSpacey Plain ol' simple licensing issues.
We live with an archaic entertainment industry that pull things like this.— n8 ? (@_BuNNNy) March 3, 2016
As of this writing, Netflix has not provided any official statement yet regarding the issue. It seems like the entire audience in New Zealand would have to settle for reading spoilers online and watching YouTube clips, at least for now.
House of Cards season 4 is already available on Netflix. Watch the House of Cards season 4 trailer below.
[Image Credit: AP Photo/John Bazemore]
